Ruturaj Gaikwad, captain of India C team, retired hurt after facing the second ball of the Duleep Trophy 2004 second round match against India B. The match is being played at the Rural Development Trust Stadium “B” in Anantapur on Thursday.
Ruturaj Gaikwad struck the first ball of the match after being asked to bat, for a four off India B seamer Mukesh Kumar before being forced to retire hurt on the following delivery. Gaikwad reportedly hurt his ankle while attempting to run. Rajat Patidar of Madhya Pradesh replaced Gaikwad in the first over, entering at 3 to join Sai Sudharsan.
India B won the toss and chose to bowl first, putting India C on the back foot quickly. Despite the early setback of losing their skipper, India C recovered thanks to a strong partnership between Sai Sudharsan and Rajat Patidar.
Sudharsan scored 43 runs off 75 balls, and Patidar added 40 runs off 67 balls. The two put on a crucial 92-run stand for the second wicket, facing 140 balls in total.
Following a promising partnership, both hitters were bowled in short succession, leaving Ishan Kishan and Baba Indrajith to rebuild the innings.
Second serious injury for Ruturaj Gaikwad
It’s unclear whether Ruturaj Gaikwad will bat again in the innings, and his availability for the rest of the game is also uncertain. There has been no official update on the nature or extent of the injuries.
The captain had scored 5 and 46 in India C’s four-wicket victory over India D last week. He was not included in Team India’s team for the forthcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh.
The 27-year-old was chosen to India’s Test team for the two-match series against South Africa in December, but he was ruled out due to a finger injury. Fellow opening batter Abhimanyu Easwaran was named as his replacement for the two-match affair.
Gaikwad has played 30 first-class games and scored 2,092 runs, including six centuries and ten fifties. He made his first-class, List A, and T20 debuts for Maharashtra in the 2016-17 season.
Gaikwad was out of play until February, when he returned for Maharashtra in the 2024 Ranji Trophy, making an outstanding 96 against Services. He finally led the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season and appeared in a T20I series against Zimbabwe following the 2024 T20 World Cup.
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