“Shubman Gill has gone far ahead in that race” – Aakash Chopra on Ruturaj Gaikwad’s place in India’s side

Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra believes Shubman Gill has gone far ahead of Ruturaj Gaikwad in terms of his place in India’s limited-overs team. Gill has grabbed his opportunities in ODIs and he also performed well while batting at number three in the five-match Test series against England earlier in the year.

Gill scored 452 runs in five Test matches against England at an average of 56.50 and finished as the second-highest run-getter.

Gill has scored 1492 runs in 25 Test matches at an average of 35.52, including four centuries whereas he has scored 2328 runs in 47 ODIs at an impressive average of 58.2.

On the other hand, Ruturaj Gaikwad has received sporadic chances in white-ball formats for India. Gaikwad scored 133 runs in three innings of the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe at an average of 66.50 and a strike rate of 158.33.

The right-hander was also the second-highest run-getter in IPL 2024 as he scored 583 runs in 14 matches at an average of 53 while leading Chennai Super Kings for the first time.

“He has a fan club now. A base has been created that likes Ruturaj Gaikwad, which is fair. Honestly, when Rutu bats – ‘Dukh bhare din beete re bhaiya, ab sukh aayo re’ – you get a feeling like that. You watch him playing drives with the straight bat, cut shots and pulls. He looks technically compact, batting like pure desi ghee,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

“However, what is happening with Ruturaj Gaikwad is that at this point, at least for another one to one-and-a-half years, he is at the wrong time. Shubman Gill has gone far ahead in that race. Whoever is attached to Indian cricket, whether it’s the captain, coaches or selectors, everyone has decided that Shubman Gill is your next captain and superstar,” Chopra added.

Meanwhile, Ruturaj Gaikwad has scored 2092 runs in 30 first-class matches at an average of 42.69. However, Chopra reckons there aren’t many vacant slots in India’s red-ball team. 

“There aren’t too many places. If we talk about Test cricket, Yashasvi (Jaiswal) is there with Rohit (Sharma) at the top. They will remain for quite some time. Then Shubman Gill has come at No. 3, Virat Kohli is at No. 4, and then you will have a wicketkeeper, which is Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul at No. 5 at the moment, and someone else might come later,” he explained in the same video.

Gaikwad returned with scores of 5 and 46 in the Duleep trophy clash against India D while leading India C.