India C captain Ruturaj Gaikwad has left the field after facing only two deliveries in the 2024 Duleep Trophy match against India B in Anantapur. He hit a boundary off Mukesh Kumar’s first ball but was then struck by a blow that caused him to retire injured.
Uncertainity is surrounding the reasons for Gaikwad’s leaving from the ground as the match was not well covered. Earlier, the captain lost the toss to Abhimanyu Easwaran and had to bat first.
After Gaiwkad hurriedly walked back to his pavilion, it became necessary for Rajat Patidar to come into bat during the first over itself. As this is being written, Sai Sudharsan is still on 21 runs not out with India C matched up against 40-0 after ten overs.
There are still question marks if Gaikwad will return again to batting in this innings; his ability to play in rest of the match is also uncertain. In addition, there is no news about how bad or what type of injury he has sustained.
Last week during a four-wicket victory by India C over India D, the skipper scored 5 and 46 respectively. For upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh he was not mentioned in Team India’s squad. Instead, selectors have settled on Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma who have been in fine form as openers.
Gaikwad had suffered a finger injury during the South Africa tour in late 2023
He had received his first call for red-ball South Africa Tests as the opening batter, but he suffered a finger injury while fielding during the preceding ODI series. Abhimanyu Easwaran was named as the replacement for him in this two-match affair.
Gaikwad remained out of action until February, making a return for Maharashtra’s 2024 Ranji Trophy where he scored a sublime 96 against Services. He eventually went on to captain Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2024 season and played in T20I series against Zimbabwe after 2024 T20 World Cup.
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