Former India opener Aakash Chopra has questioned the absence of Maharashtra batter Ruturaj Gaikwad from the multi-format India A squads recently announced by the national selection committee, lamenting that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain’s name has been lost in a vast emerging pool of batting talent.
While Chopra had previously admitted Gaikwad’s omission from the India A red-ball squad for the ongoing series against Australia A in Lucknow was “not due to selectors’ favouritism or bias”, he was surprised that the 28-year-old missed the cut for the three-match 50-overs games, due to begin in Kanpur from September 30.
After being ruled out of the IPL 2025 season with a fractured elbow in April, Gaikwad was benched for both games during India A’s red-ball tour to England in June and later omitted from the set-up. Gaikwad returned to action earlier this month in the Duleep Trophy semi-finals, scoring 184 and 16 for West Zone.
“The question is extremely important because he has scored runs. I agree he was injured for some time. However, he scored runs in the Duleep Trophy as well, where Rajat Patidar also scored runs. It’s praiseworthy that two back-to-back IPL-winning captains lifted domestic trophies as well,” Chopra said on YouTube.
Chopra highlighted Gaikwad’s white-ball prowess by recollecting his T20I century against Australia and his leadership abilities during India’s victorious Asia Games campaign two years ago.
“Shreyas Iyer did that, and Rajat Patidar has also done it. It seems like captaincy is suiting Rajat Patidar. Coming to Ruturaj Gaikwad, he scored a century against Australia in Guwahati and is a technically compact player. He was the captain in the Asian Games. We won the Asian Games under Ruturaj’s captaincy. He is a very, very good player,” he added.
Gaikwad’s name should be there somewhere
“It’s a slight travesty that your name gets lost among so many names. However, I can understand the Indian selection, but I feel it’s not right if his name doesn’t come for India-A both in multi-day and one-dayers,” Chopra added.
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“His name should be there somewhere or other. He is too good a player to actually miss out completely from every single thing. That is what I feel,” Chopra observed.
With Gaikwad missing out on the India A games and is likely to not be considered at the start of the home Test season, he is expected to return to action only through the Ranji Trophy, starting October 15.
