Iyer and Co. will be back by the time India play their next ODI series – a five-match rubber – in New Zealand in November. Though Gaikwad is versatile enough to bat at the top as well as in the middle order at No. 4, it’s hard to see him breaking into India’s first-choice ODI XI. At best, he could make the World Cup cut next year as a spare batter, though competition for that spot is also intense.
Considering the presence of Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Devdutt Padikkal, B Sai Sudharsan and Arshin Kulkarni, Gaikwad is likely to slot in at No. 4 and helm the middle order apart from leading the team.
“I’ve been opening the batting for more than 100 innings now at the first-class level. So, batting in the middle order, especially in international cricket, comes with different challenges”
Ruturaj Gaikwad
Opening or not, the one-day format is Gaikwad’s strongest suit. With a push here and a bunt there, he can busily construct or reconstruct an innings at a healthy tempo. He offered a glimpse of these traits even during his scratchy knock in New Chandigarh.
Seventeen of Gaikwad’s 21 List A centuries have come as opener, but India’s team management is seeing him in a different role at No. 4, where he has also fared well, though the sample size is much smaller. Sliding down the order, though, hasn’t been easy for him.
“There’s a lot of difference, to be honest,” Gaikwad said during the ODI series against West Indies. “I’ve been opening the batting for more than 100 innings now at the first-class level. So, batting in the middle order, especially in international cricket, comes with different challenges.
“You have to rotate the strike, you have to make sure you take the right option and when you’re batting in the powerplay, you get those easy boundaries [with] the fielders inside [the circle]. But in the middle order, you have to make sure you make the adjustment and just back your strengths – whatever it is.”
Being a shock absorber is among Gaikwad’s middle-order strengths. While the role has become somewhat redundant, especially on easy-paced, bash-through-the-line pitches in India, it acquires greater value in Africa, the venue for the 2027 ODI World Cup. More specifically in the Highveld where there could be both vertical and lateral movement for the fast bowlers.
Gaikwad seems to have the tools and temperament to counter those conditions. But then again, there are other players ahead of him in the current pecking order who have the same tools too, while some IPL performers are still waiting in the wings. Gaikwad needs to fire in varying conditions in Puducherry and potentially in New Zealand later – with the A team or senior team, whichever he is picked for – if he is to improve his slim chances of being part of the ODI World Cup plans.
Deivarayan Muthu is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo