"He was the captain in the Asian Games" - Aakash Chopra on star batter not being picked for India and India-A in any format

Former India player Aakash Chopra has noted that star batter Ruturaj Gaikwad hasn't been picked in the national team or India A across formats lately despite being among the runs. He pointed out that the right-handed batter led the Indian team to the gold medal in the 2022 Asian Games, which was held in 2023.

Gaikwad wasn't picked in the Indian squad or reserves for the ongoing Asia Cup 2025. The Maharashtra batter hasn't been selected in the India A squads for the multi-day and one-day series against Australia A either.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener was asked about Gaikwad's non-selection in any of the Indian sides across formats.

"It's a good question, and the question is extremely important because he 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 responded (9:15).

"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.

Aakash Chopra opined that it was slightly controversial when Ruturaj Gaikwad was selected for India A's tour of England soon after missing the majority of IPL 2025 due to a fracture in his elbow. He noted that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper didn't play a single game on the tour and had potentially not recovered.

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"It's not right if his name doesn't come for India-A both in multi-day and one-dayers" - Aakash Chopra on Ruturaj Gaikwad

Ruturaj Gaikwad has represented India in six ODIs and 23 T20Is. [P/C: Getty]

While observing that Ruturaj Gaikwad's non-selection in the Indian team is understandable, Aakash Chopra opined that the decision to leave him out of both India A sides was wrong.

"It's a slight travesty that your name gets lost among so many names. However, I can understand the Indian selection, but I feel it's not right if his name doesn't come for India-A both in multi-day and one-dayers," he said (10:25) in the same video.

The analyst added that the 28-year-old merited a selection in one of the formats at least.

"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," Chopra observed.

Ruturaj Gaikwad has scored 2,832 runs at an average of 43.56 in 39 first-class games. He has an even better record in List A cricket, amassing 4.324 runs at an average of 56.15 in 83 innings.