On the first day of their second game against India B at Anantapur on Thursday, Ruturaj Gaikwad, the captain of the India C side competing in the Duleep Trophy 2024, left the field.
After winning the toss and opting to field first, India B captain Abhimanyu Easwaran brought Gaikwad and Sai Sudharshan into the batting. After facing just two balls, he hit his sole boundary of the innings and walked off the field.
According to a Sportstar report, Ruturaj Gaikwad injury was allegedly caused by twisting his ankle on his second delivery while taking a single.
India C will be hoping that the injury won’t keep him out of the game for too long because, should they continue and perhaps win the match, they will need to rely on both his batting prowess and leadership abilities.
After winning their respective initial games earlier in the Duleep Trophy 2024, India C and India B are playing their second match.
India C has opted to bring in the likes of Ishan Kishan, Mayank Markande and Sandeep Warrier into their playing 11. They came in place of Aryan Juyal, Hrithik Shokeen and Himanshu Chauhan respectively.
Given that he was in excellent form and had scored 46 off 48 balls against India B in the second half of the inaugural game against India D, Gaikwad’s loss would be devastating.
In addition to being the captain of the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, the 27-year-old has been a mainstay at the top of the order for the team, taking over for the late MS Dhoni.
He has also played for the national team, appearing in a total of 23 T20Is and 6 ODIs. He has an average of 39.56 and a strike rate of 143.54 in the shortest format. This includes the one-off century in which he amassed an undefeated 123 against Australia at Guwahati, Assam, in November 2023, as well as four half-centuries.