While he was dismissed for 21 against Uttarakhand on Sunday, Gaikwad on Saturday scored 124 off 129 balls against Kerala, scoring 154* (vs Chhattisgarh) and 136 (vs Madhya Pradesh) in the first two matches of the tournament. after. The opener was the highest run-scorer in the last IPL in the UAE in September-October, scoring 635 runs in 16 innings @ 45.35, including four fifties and his maiden IPL century.
“You have to pick a man in form. How many more runs will he have to score to prove himself? It is high time the selectors pick him straight and give him a fair chance,” Vengsarkar told TOI on Sunday.
For the record, Gaikwad played for the second-line Indian team in two T20Is against Sri Lanka in July, scoring 35 runs. with the captain Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul is a regular opener, and Shikhar Dhawan And with Ishan Kishan also in the fray, the Indian white-ball team currently has tough competition for the opening slot.
Vengsarkar said, ‘He can bat at number three also. He should be given a place in the team. The team is likely to be selected for the ODIs after the league stage of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. For someone who fast-tracked India’s Test captain, as chairman of the national selection committee Virat Kohli In the Indian team back in 2008, Vengsarkar knows a thing or two about giving blood to youngsters at the right time for India.
Vengsarkar felt, “It’s not like Ruturaj is 18 or 19. He is 24 now. There is no point in choosing him when he will be 28.”
Vengsarkar was first impressed by Gaikwad when he saw the youngster, who was just 10 years old at the time, at his cricket academy in Pune. The veteran of 116 Tests later took him to Lancashire, England for an exposure tour.
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