"The dream would be to win the gold medal"- New captain Ruturaj Gaikwad wants to stand on the podium, sing national anthem at Asian Games
Ruturaj Gaikwad was appointed the Indian captain for the upcoming men's T20I cricket event at Asian Games. The rising star has expressed his desire to lead the nation to a gold medal win in China later this year.
India will participate in the men's cricket event of the Asian Games for the first time. BCCI has decided to send a second-string Indian squad to China for the mega event. Gaikwad will lead the side.
Speaking in a video shared by BCCI on Facebook Watch, the top-order batter shared his first reaction to becoming the T20I captain and said:
"I think it will be really exciting for everyone who are a part of this squad to represent the country in the Asian Games and obviously winning the medal for the country is something we always grew up watching on TV, seeing athletes win it for the country."
"The dream would be to win the gold medal, stand on the podium and sing the national anthem," he added.
India will directly play in the quarterfinals of the Asian Games tournament. Every game will be a knockout match for the Indian team.
"Really thankful for this opportunity given by BCCI"- Ruturaj Gaikwad expresses gratitude to management and selectors
In the same video, Gaikwad thanked the BCCI for entrusting him with the responsibility of leading the nation at such a big event. He said that it would be a proud moment for him and the rest of the squad to represent India at the Asian Games.
"Really thankful for this opportunity given by BCCI, the management and the selectors. Playing for India itself is a proud feeling. Leading the team in such a big event, I think it would be a great opportunity for me personally and also for all team members who are there alongside with me. So, really looking forward and really happy and obviously, feeling really proud," Gaikwad said.
Several youngsters like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi, Prabhsimran Singh and Shivam Mavi have been named in the Indian T20I squad for Asian Games. Ruturaj Gaikwad shared his views on the team and commented:
"I think it will be great fun, to be honest because everyone, I think we all are youngsters. We have been geling around very well with each other since last 1 year or last 2 years. Playing IPL against each other, playing India 'A' games and playing some India games as well. So really fun group to be part of."
Asian Games cricket tournament will begin on September 28 in China. It will be interesting to see if India can clinch the gold medal under Ruturaj Gaikwad's captaincy.
Team India squad for Asian Games: Ruturaj Gaikwad (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Shivam Dube, Prabhsimran Singh (wk)
Standby players: Yash Thakur, Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Sai Sudarsan