The former Test cricketer Aakash Chopra believes that Ruturaj Gaikwad is the frontrunner to make his ODI debut in South Africa as the latter has piled up big scores in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021.

The Maharashtra opener scored 603 runs in 5 games which included 4 big hundreds. Notable that he was the Orange Cap winner in IPL 2021 season with 635 runs in 16 games. As Chopra was reflecting top performers of this domestic season, he stated that Ruturaj looked in a different league altogether as if he was scoring the runs for fun.

“The first name, the name at the top is Ruturaj Gaikwad. I mean he has hit four centuries, at one point he had hit three hundred in three matches and no one was able to get him out. I saw some of his innings. It seemed like he was playing against kids.” Aakash Chopra spoke on his Youtube Channel.

Despite Ruturaj’s valiant effort Maharashtra failed to qualify for the next round

“He was only playing the sweep shots against the fast bowlers, who does that? Inside out fours against the spinners. Bowlers were bowling alright but Ruturaj actually looked in a different league altogether.” he added further.

Notable that these heroics from Ruturaj, Maharashtra failed to qualify for the next round in Vijay Hazare Trophy. In Group D, 3 teams- Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra finished with 8 points but Maharashtra lacked behind in net run rate.

The knockout round of the Vijay Hazare Trophy will start on Sunday.

Also Read: Aakash Chopra Picks Top 5 Test Bowlers Of 2021; Ravichandran Ashwin And Mohammed Siraj On The List