Former India all-rounder R Ashwin has questioned the Indian team management over the repeated snub of Maharashtra batter Ruturaj Gaikwad from the limited-overs scheme of things.
Gaikwad last featured for India in a T20I series shortly after the T20 World Cup win when he toured with a second-string side to Zimbabwe. In 20 innings for India in the shortest format, the Chennai Super Kings captain has racked up 633 runs with a near-40 average and a competitive 143.53 strike rate.
Speaking about his former CSK captain, Ashwin said, “We do not need to talk about Ruturaj Gaikwad’s class. He’s got all the shots in the book. The only thing is there is no information as to why he is not in the scene after his last T20 series.
“When he played the last T20 the coach was different, the captain was different. The issue is if there is no communication with such players they will largely be left in the dark. I really hope he is being communicated to. He is batting brilliantly in red ball as well. I hope they consider him for a middle-order role,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.’
Ashwin also shed his take on modern T20 openers, insisting that there was no room for anchor players in the mould of Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli.
“In modern-day T20 cricket, you will not be selected as an opener if you come with a strike-rate of less than 145. I am very sorry to say. You like players like Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, all these players who are setting it up for you. You could win the T20 World Cup because how Virat played in the final against South Africa. But when you have players like these on one side, you need to fight on the other side. That’s why Rohit took it upon himself,” he said.
Gaikwad was dropped from the India A red-ball set-up after a poor tour to Australia last year. He has, however, had a superb start to the ongoing Ranji Trophy season with scores of 91, 55*, 116 and 36*. The elegant right-hander was also named in the India A squad for the white-ball games against South Africa in Rajkot next week.
