Ruturaj Gaikwad will not travel to London for the World Test Championship final due to personal reasons. The BCCI has reportedly picked a Rajasthan Royals batsman to replace him. Ruturaj was one of the three standby players for the ICC final. Suryakumar Yadav and Mukesh Kumar, along with Ruturaj’s replacement, will travel to London as standby players.
“He (Jaiswal) will be joining the Indian team as Gaikwad has informed us that he won’t be able to fly due to his marriage. He would be able to join the team post-June 5. (But) Coach Rahul Dravid took a call, asking the selectors to pick a replacement. So, Jaiswal will now fly to London soon,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
Ruturaj has also been part of the India A team and was surprisingly picked over Abhimanyu Easwaran as a standby player. Easwaran has once again missed out and has been pipped by Yashasvi. Sarfaraz Khan was another contender who could have replaced Ruturaj. But he too has been ignored despite his rich form in red-ball cricket.
Yashasvi has 1845 runs in 15 first-class matches at a high average of 80.21. He has scored 9 centuries and 2 half-centuries in red-ball cricket.
