Ruturaj Gaikwad is on a roll and it does not seem to be stopping until he makes his ODI debut. Gaikwad scored an unbeaten 154 in a successful run chase against Chattisgarh in his second match of ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22.
Leading from the front, Gaikwad made a tricky run chase look easy. Playing a perfect captain’s knock, he scored at a strike rate of 107.69. The opener’s knock included 14 fours and five sixes which helped chasing the target of 276 with three overs to spare.
This was the 24-year-old sensation’s second List A century within 24 hours. The previous hundred against Madhya Pradesh came in a run chase too. On December 8, chasing a daunting total of 329, Gaikwad got his team off to a great start on captaincy debut and also anchored the innings for a better part of the run chase.
He scored at even better strike rate of 121.42 for his 136 off 112 deliveries including 14 fours and four sixes. His knock followed by good contributions from the middle order helped chase down the total with two balls to spare.
With India’s ODI squad for South Africa yet to be announced, it will be hard for selectors to ignore the in-form Maharashtra captain. Even though India have plenty of openers in their side, Gaikwad can be picked as a backup opener. While Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have been seen as India’s long –term openers in the 50-over format, one good thing for Gaikwad is that KL Rahul has been given a role to strengthen the middle-order.
The selectors have already made it clear that they want to keep an eye on the domestic tournament before announcing the squad for South Africa tour. Given Gaikwad’s current form, if he ends up becoming one of the top-scorers of the tournament if not the first, there is a very high probability that he will be on flight to South Africa.
