IND vs SL: Why is Ruturaj Gaikwad Not Playing Today’s India vs Sri Lanka 3rd T20I Match? Check India Playing XI

Ruturaj Gaikwad India vs Sri Lanka: In an important news development, India are still not playing right-handed batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad in the third and final T20I match against Sri Lanka being hosted at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot. Things did not panned out really well for India during the last game where they conceded a disappointing 16-run loss at the hands of the visiting Sri Lanka team. The three-match T20I series is currently levelled with a 1-1 scoreline and now everyone is looking ahead to this exciting series decider.

IND vs SL: Why is Ruturaj Gaikwad Not Playing Today’s India vs Sri Lanka 3rd T20I Match? 

After winning the toss and opting to bat first, India captain Hardik Pandya mentioned that they are going ahead with the same playing XI that played the second T20I against Sri Lanka. This also means that Ruturaj Gaikwad will once again have to warm the bench as he has not got a single game in his comeback series. During the recently concluded edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022, Ruturaj Gaikwad smashed a blistering total of 660 runs from just 5 games at a phenomenal average of 220 that included as many as 4 centuries. He also achieved a world record after having smashed a total of 7 sixes in a single over of a 50-overs match. More importantly, India’s current opener Shubman Gill who made his T20I debut during the ongoing series against Sri Lanka, has not contributed much with the bat so far in the previous two games.

“We’ll bat first. Looks like a good track, the last time we played here, the ball did a bit, we might get more swing in the night. I don’t drag things (speaking about the last match), we just need to focus on playing good cricket in this game. We were not at our best in the last game, but we still stretched the match until the end. No changes for us,” said India captain Hardik Pandya during the toss.

India Playing XI

1. Ishan Kishan (wk)
2. Shubman Gill
3. Suryakumar Yadav
4. Rahul Tripathi
5. Hardik Pandya (C)
6. Deepak Hooda
7. Axar Patel
8. Shivam Mavi
9. Arshdeep Singh
10. Umran Malik
11. Yuzvendra Chahal

So not a single one chance in this home series against SL to Ruturaj Gaikwad – arguably the man primarily responsible for @ChennaiIPL ‘s batting successes in recent years IPL. https://t.co/GynhVlDAQc

— Vibhav / उर्मिलादेवनाथपुत्र विभव तिवारी (@vibhavarms) January 7, 2023

Shame on you @BCCI
Wasting his good form and career!#RuturajGaikwad#INDvSL https://t.co/rpAabDHSu8

— Akshat Jaiswal (@Akshat__Jaiswal) January 7, 2023

What's happening?
Is there any special case between Others and Ruturaj Gaikwad
Someone getting failure they getting chances continuously but Ruturaj got one failure then he dropped.
When @BCCI @hardikpandya7 going to put Rutu in teamIt's very worse happening against @Ruutu1331

— PRATHIVRAJ (@PRATHIVRAJ27) January 7, 2023

India vs Sri Lanka 2023 Schedule