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Ahead of the first T20I against South Africa at Durban, Indian T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav expressed faith in abilities of opening batter Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is missing from the series squad, and said that his time will come soon.
The young Indian side aims to extend their T20I dominance as they kick off their South African tour, which features four T20Is, with the first match in Durban on Friday. Yadav's remarks come after India's 0-3 Test series loss to New Zealand at home, their first loss at home in a Test series in 12 years and first-ever whitewash in a Test series of three-match or more. Ruturaj is currently playing in the India A's two-match series against Australia A in Australia, where he has not made an impact as a batter. "Ruturaj is a fantastic player. He has been fantastic and consistent across all formats he plays...There are a lot of players who have been performing well even before him, so there is a routine or process that I think that the management has come up with, so it is important to follow that. He has been performing consistently well, so I believe his time will come soon," Suryakumar Yadav said in the pre-match press conference. In 23 T20Is and 20 innings, Ruturaj has scored 633 runs at an average of 39.56, with a strike rate of 143.53, with a century and four fifties. His best score is 123*. Despite his fine knocks, he has not been selected for the T20I series against Bangladesh and South Africa. The second T20I will take place at St George's Park in Gqeberha on November 10, followed by the third at SuperSport Park in Centurion on November 13. The series will conclude with the fourth T20I at Wanderers Stadium on November 15. India's T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal. (ANI)
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