Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rajat Patidar emerged as two of the best batters in the Duleep Trophy. The former scored 200 runs (184 and 16) against the West Zone. The latter has played just three innings and amassed 268 runs with one hundred and two fifties while playing for Central Zone.
But neither has made the squad for India A for the upcoming Australia A series. Why is that? Surely domestic performers should be rewarded. But there’s a reason why the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hasn’t done it.
Why Gaikwad wasn’t considered
Former India opener Aakash Chopra has reasoned why it happened. Gaikwad failed miserably against Australia last year in Australia. In four innings there, he scored 20 runs in 4 innings. When India A toured England, he was added to the squad but didn’t play.
“Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 184 recently in the Duleep Trophy. However, he didn’t score runs in the India A shadow tour during the BGT time, where he was the captain. He was part of the India A squad for the England tour but didn’t play. So he has been there and thereabouts,” Aakash said on his YouTube channel.
These numbers alone explain why Gaikwad isn’t in the scheme of things. But even if we go back, in the 2024 Duleep Trophy, he didn’t shine. The same happened in the Irani Cup 2024. Also, the batter hasn’t represented Maharashtra often in the Ranji Trophy due to injury. All of this matters.
“The thing that is going against Ruturaj is that what he has done is fine, but the others are coming after performing strongly. People are coming after setting domestic cricket on fire. You might say that if Shreyas Iyer is being kept, Ruturaj can also be kept. It’s an eye test. It’s about what you are seeing and not necessarily about what the numbers are telling. It’s not favouritism or bias.”
“He had an average of 38 in the 2024 Duleep Trophy. He didn’t score a lot of runs in the Irani Trophy. He didn’t score too many runs against Australia A, and he has played only four matches in the last two Ranji seasons. He has not played a lot of cricket,” he added.
Patidar’s debut Test series haunting him
Patidar’s already 32. But if Karun Nair can return, surely, he can as well. Aakash highlights how Patidar wasted the opportunity he got when he was handed his Test debut against England in 2024. The middle-order batter scored just 63 runs in 6 innings. Since then, he hasn’t been considered by the BCCI for any India A series.
“In the same breath, Rajat Patidar, who also scored runs in the Duleep Trophy. He was elevated at one point, got a chance to play for the country. He was given opportunities in the series against England. There was hope that he would score runs, as the conditions and pitches were good, but he didn’t score there.”
“For the short term, that ship has also sailed; the bus has left the bus stop for both of them. It seems like the Indian selectors have started going in a slightly different direction,” Aakash added.
India A squad for Australia A series
Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhimanyu Easwaran, N Jagadeesan (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel (vc & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Harsh Dubey, Ayush Badoni, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tanush Kotian, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Khaleel Ahmed, Manav Suthar, Yash Thakur
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