'Direct Shoot-Out Between Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shubman Gill for the T20 World Cup': The Ex-India Star's Big Claim
In the absence of experienced players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah, a young Indian team led by Suryakumar Yadav defeated Australia 4-1 in a five-match T20I series. Ruturaj Gaikwad was the top scorer for India in the series with 223 runs in five matches at an average of 55.75. However, former India opener Aakash Chopra feels Gaikwad will face stiff competition from Shubman Gill for a place in the Indian team at the T20 World Cup next year.
Chopra explained why scoring runs in the series was important for Gaikwad.
He said on his YouTube channel that "Ruturaj Gaikwad said that he is there. Ruturaj is going to have stiff competition because Shubman Gill also plays like that. Rohit Sharma will also come now. So suddenly, you will feel that you aren't even able to pick two among the three. So these runs were necessary.”
He further added, "Keep scoring runs so that you are part of the squad when the World Cup comes. From his point of view, it's important that he remain a part of the squad. It might be a direct shoot-out between him and Shubman Gill. You might keep one of them, as both do similar things in T20 cricket," he added.
Gaikwad scored 223 runs in the five games, the most by any batter in a T20I bilateral series against Australia.