Before the selection of the ODI team against New Zealand, star batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad has given a strong message with his bat in domestic cricket.
Delhi: Before the selection of the ODI team against New Zealand, Indian star batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad has given a strong message with his bat in domestic cricket. His century innings played against Uttarakhand in the fourth round of Vijay Hazare Trophy has caught the attention of the selectors.
This innings is considered very important for Ruturaj, who recently scored his first ODI century against South Africa. Amid talks of Shreyas Iyer’s return to the team, it was important for the Maharashtra captain to prove that he is still a strong option for the Indian ODI team. In such a situation, his century against Uttarakhand came at the right time.
In this match played in Jaipur, Maharashtra had to bat first after losing the toss. The team suffered big setbacks in the power play itself and the score became three wickets for 50 runs. After the fall of two wickets for 46 runs, captain Gaikwad came to the crease and handled the innings with responsibility.
Understanding the situation, Rututuraj showed patience in the beginning and then increased the run rate as per the need. He played a brilliant inning of 124 runs in 113 balls, which included 12 fours and 3 sixes. During this time, he played the role of anchor and took the team to a strong position.
While at the crease, the right-handed batsman made three important partnerships. He first added 50 runs in 81 balls for the third wicket with Rahul Tripathi. After this, he made a big partnership of 109 runs in 88 balls with Satyajit Bachhav. In the end, he along with Ramakrishna Ghosh took Maharashtra’s score to a new height by adding 94 runs in just 57 balls.
Apart from Ruturaj’s century, Satyajit Bachhav played a quick inning of 56 runs in 45 balls and Ramakrishna Ghosh played a quick inning of 47 runs in 31 balls. Thanks to these contributions, Maharashtra scored a strong score of 331 runs for 7 wickets in 50 overs and took control of the match.
Earlier in the tournament, Gaikwad had played an explosive inning of 38 runs in just 13 balls against Sikkim, where Maharashtra had achieved the target of 253 runs in just 18 overs. At present, Maharashtra has won one out of three matches and is placed fifth in Elite Group C.
