“He was the captain in the Asian Games” - Aakash Chopra opens up on star Indian player’s exclusion for India A series

Former Indian cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra has opened up on Ruturaj Gaikwad’s non-inclusion for the forthcoming India A series against Australia A. Interestingly, Rajat Patidar and Tilak Varma have been named as captains for the three-match one-day series, starting on Tuesday, September 30.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra has asserted that while the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Indian team won the gold medal at the Asian Games in 2023, it’s interesting to note that he didn’t find a place in the India A squad for the upcoming series.

"He (Ruturaj Gaikwad) has scored runs. I agree he was injured for some time. However, he scored runs in the Duleep Trophy as well, where Rajat Patidar also scored runs. It's praiseworthy that two back-to-back IPL-winning captains lifted domestic trophies as well," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

"Shreyas Iyer did that, and Rajat Patidar has also done it. It seems like captaincy is suiting Rajat Patidar. Coming to Ruturaj Gaikwad, he scored a century against Australia in Guwahati and is a technically compact player. He was the captain in the Asian Games. We won the Asian Games under Ruturaj's captaincy. He is a very, very good player," he added.

" I feel it's not right if his name doesn't come for India-A both in multi-day and one-dayers. His name should be there somewhere or other. He is too good a player to actually miss out completely from every single thing. That is what I feel," he concluded.

India A squad for the 1st one-day match: Rajat Patidar (c), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Riyan Parag, Ayush Badoni, Suryansh Shedge, Vipraj Nigam, Nishant Sindhu, Gurjapneet Singh, Yudhvir Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Porel (wk), Priyansh Arya, Simarjeet Singh.

India A squad for 2nd and 3rd one-day: Tilak Varma (c), Rajat Patidar (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Riyan Parag, Ayush Badoni, Suryansh Shedge, Vipraj Nigam, Nishant Sindhu, Gurjapneet Singh, Yudhvir Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Porel (wk), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh.

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