4 India A players who deserved a place in the ODI squad
Team India will be looking forward to the 2-match Test series which is set to start from August 22 in Antigua. This will be India's first series in the ICC World Test Championship which will go on for the next 2 years. The No.1 ranked Test side, India, will want to kick it off with a win. They will happily reflect on the clean sweep that they had over the West Indies, who have offered little competition to the Men in Blue.
India won 3-0 in a rain-affected T20I series where there was very little fight from the hosts. After the first ODI was abandoned, India won both the ODIs in Trinidad with Virat Kohli scoring tons in both games and Shreyas Iyer impressing with 2 half-centuries.
But what was interesting to see was India's approach to their squad selection for this tour, which lacked the inclusion of young players. The likes of Kedar Jadhav, who won't be around till the 2023 World Cup, were backed by the team management.
The 2019 World Cup ended recently and one of Kohli or Rohit Sharma should have been rested in order to reduce their workload. This could have also provided an opportunity to some India A stars who have been playing in the Caribbean for some time and would be better suited to the conditions.
Let's now take a look at 4 India A stars who deserved a place in the ODI squad.
#4 Ruturaj Gaikwad
Of the most exciting talents to emerge from the country in recent times, Ruturaj Gaikwad is someone whose name hasn't been highlighted enough. But, the lad from Pune has quietly gone on to make a name for himself in all formats.
He was in stellar form in the series against West Indies A and has racked up a lot of runs in List A and First-Class matches, whilst also being the 2nd highest run-scorer in the ODI format.
Someone who can bat in many positions, although he has thrived as an opener, Ruturaj is technically sound and has the ability to score runs at a steady pace. He even put up a mammoth score of 187* in an unofficial ODI against Sri Lanka A.
Though there are many players ahead of him for a place in the squad, Ruturaj is someone who truly deserves a spot in the side. Though he might not get it anytime soon, he is a star in the making.
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