Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has said that Ruturaj Gaikwad’s nonselection in the India A squad for the upcoming series against Australia A cannot be named favouritism or bias. He added that other players have performed better than him and that it’s also about the selectors’ thought process as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “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.”
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“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 favoritism 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 shared again.
However, Aakash Chopra added that Rajat Patidar is virtually in the same boat as Ruturaj Gaikwad, with the selectors potentially looking beyond them as well.
” 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 Chopra concluded.
