The conclusion of the India vs Australia T20I series has brought in various questions regarding who would be in and around the squad that would be taking part in the T20 World Cup coming up in 2024. The future of Rohit Sharma remains uncertain at this point and the usage of the younger crop of players in the bilaterals could mean that the side is looking to move on ahead.
In the India vs Australia series, Ruturaj Gaikwad has been a stand-out batter for India throughout. The opening batter despite the torrid start with a diamond duck in the first game. He then followed it up with a fifty and then the massive century knock to put India ahead in the series. He now sits as the highest run-scorer in the series by a mile with 244 runs in the five matches he has played so far.
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Former Indian cricketer and now pundit, Aakash Chopra sees some intense competition for the highly coveted opening spot for India in the coming future. He believes,” Ruturaj is going to have stiff competition because Shubman Gill also plays similarly. So you will feel that you aren’t even able to pick two among the three. So these runs were necessary as they put him in the conversation,”
Both Gill and Gaikwad are the anchors for their respective sides in the IPL and have been continuing to do so for the Indian team as well. Aakash Chopra also shared,” Even though Shubman has burst ahead in the ODI and Test formats, in T20s, both the batters bring the same thing into the table.”
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For Ruturaj to be considered for the upcoming T20 World Cup in 2024, the former cricketer believes that the opener has to “Keep scoring runs so that you are part of the squad when the World Cup comes. From his point of view, it’s important that he remains a part of the squad. It might be a direct shoot-out between him and Shubman Gill. You might keep one of them as both do similar things in T20 cricket.”
India now will tour South Africa which begins with a three-match T20I series with the first game being held at Kingsmead on December 10 2023. Both openers have been crucial in their respective IPL sides’ title-winning campaigns and will look to recreate their heroics for the national side for the marquee tournament in the shortest format.
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