You look at Ruturaj Gaikwad bat and the first thing that comes to your mind is that the Maharashtra-born batter is made for the 50-over format.
The way he paces his innings, focuses on the strike rotation, plays spin in the middle overs, accelerates once set, and many other things — he has always had all the ingredients you would need in the prototype of the perfect ODI batter.
Gaikwad started producing insane numbers in List A cricket from his very first season for Maharashtra. The right-handed batter slammed 132 off 110 on his debut against Himachal Pradesh in Cuttack and ended the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2016/17 as the third-highest run-getter - 444 runs @ 63.42. It took Gaikwad just one season to stamp his authority in List A cricket.
Gaikwad’s stocks kept rising, especially in this format, as the top-order batter kept churning out runs for fun. From 2017 to 2022, he smacked 4034 runs across 71 innings at an average of 61.12 and a strike rate of 101, studded with 16 fifties and 15 centuries. This also included back-to-back 600-plus VHT seasons. Gaikwad also made his ODI debut during this period.
Everything was going well for the batter, who also became an integral part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) set-up in the Indian Premier League (IPL) during this time frame.
He only played one ODI until the end of 2022, but that was largely because Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were doing well at the top. When the latter retired, Shubman Gill took over and started dominating the format like not many have in the past.
Even then, everyone knew Gaikwad’s chance would come sooner or later. All he had to do was keep scoring runs, even if not at the same level, at least at a decent enough average to stay in the reckoning. This is the least you could expect from a batter of Gaikwad’s calibre playing domestic cricket. But things haven’t been the same since 2023.
In 14 List A encounters since 2023, Gaikwad has managed 290 runs at an average of 26.36, with more than 50 percent of his runs coming in one innings (148* vs Services). That knock came in Maharashtra’s second game of the season, where Gaikwad smoked 16 fours and 11 maximums. It looked like he would have another dominating VHT, but he didn’t.
The right-hander could only score 45 runs in the next seven games as Maharashtra crashed out of the tournament after losing to Vidarbha in the semi-final. Gaikwad was vulnerable against fast bowlers, getting out to the likes of Arshdeep Singh, Darshan Nalkande, Vinay Galetiya and Aniket Choudhary.
In the semi-final against Vidarbha on January 16, Gaikwad looked completely clueless against Vidarbha, who posted a massive total of 380/3 in the first innings. Maharashtra needed their skipper to show some fight in the run-chase, however, all Gaikwad could manage was 7 off 13 deliveries.
If there was ever a tournament that would have gotten Gaikwad a spot in India’s ODI set-up, it was this Vijay Hazare trophy. Rohit has been under pressure for being extremely poor with the bat in red-ball cricket and a poor Champions Trophy 2025 could have probably resulted in him getting dropped from the ODI team as well.
In fact, a solid VHT 2024-25 could have even seen Gaikwad travel with India’s Champions Trophy squad as a backup to Rohit and Gill. But forget about being a backup opener; Gaikwad’s VHT 2024-25 has thrown him way behind in the pecking order. Even in the six ODIs he has played, he only has 115 runs @ 19.16.
Gill has been averaging close to 60 while striking at 102.9 in 32 ODIs since 2023. Then there is Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has already cemented his place in the Test and T20I set-ups and is on the verge of getting into the ODI team.
Jaiswal last played a List A game in 2022 but that’s because he has been busy with other international commitments in this period. The left-hander has 32 List A games to his name and scored 1511 runs @ 53.96. The biggest advantage Jaiswal has over Gaikwad is he has proven himself against quality opponents at international level.
The young opener was India’s leading run-scorer in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), while Gaikwad averaged just 5 in four innings against Australia A before the main series. According to some reports, it’s more or less confirmed that Jaiswal will be in India’s Champions Trophy squad as a backup opener.
If we look beyond Rohit, Gill and Jaiswal, there are openers who have done way better than Gaikwad in recent times. Devdutt Padikkal would be first on the list, having slammed 2063 runs in 31 List A innings at an average of 82.52. The left-hander from Karnataka has been head and shoulders above other Indian openers in the last couple of years.
The likes of Abhishek Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh, Ayush Mhatre, Narayan Jagadeesan and Dhruv Shorey have all produced far better numbers than Gaikwad in this period. For a slot in the middle-order, which is already quite packed, India have got back-ups in Karun Nair, who has been in outrageous form in the VHT 2024-25, Riyan Parag, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson, and others.
No matter what happens in the Champions Trophy and how some of the batters perform in the 50-over event, starting on February 19, Gaikwad will now have to wait long to get his opportunity. And he has only himself to blame, even though some of the CSK supporters and his fans on social media might think otherwise.