Ruturaj Gaikwad returned to ODI team after two years, did not hit fours

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Rituraj Gaikwad’s century and India’s victory

Raipur. Seizing the opportunity at the right time is an important skill, which Rituraj Gaikwad proved in Raipur on Wednesday (December 3). On this day, Gaikwad proved himself worthy of returning to the ODI team and scored the first century of his career. He achieved this feat in just 77 balls, which was a remarkable feat.

record breaking performance

With this century of Gaikwad, he also made the record of scoring the fastest ODI century against South Africa. During this time, head coach Gautam Gambhir’s enthusiasm and support for his innings was worth seeing.

India’s strong score

In this match, India scored 358/5 thanks to a 195-run partnership between Virat Kohli and Gaikwad. Kohli played an inning of 102 runs, which proved to be very important for the team.

Great comeback of South Africa

However, the South African team won the match by 4 wickets with the help of Aiden Markram (102), Matthew Bretzke (68), Dewald Brewis (54), and Temba Bavuma (48). Thus, the series is now level at 1-1. The decisive match will be played on 6 December in Visakhapatnam.

Future of Ruturaj Gaikwad

At the time of the team announcement, many questions were raised regarding the role of Ruturaj Gaikwad. After Gaikwad was out for 8 in the first match, he reached 105 off 83 balls in Ranchi.

Challenges of Pant and Shreyas

Shreyas Iyer has been playing in this position for a long time, while Rishabh Pant was also a contender for this position. But Gaikwad’s performance could create problems for Pant. If Gaikwad plays well in Visakhapatnam too, the competition for Shreyas Iyer may increase further.

India’s best batsman at number 4

From January 1, 2024 till now, Shreyas Iyer has been the most successful among India’s number 4 batsmen. He has impressed in 11 matches, scoring 496 runs in 10 innings at an average of 49.60 and a strike rate of 89.53. Gaikwad has scored 113 runs in 2 matches, which shows his ability in this position.