Ex-Selector Kris Srikkanth Criticises Ruturaj Gaikwad’s Omission

Former chief selector Kris Srikkanth took a dig at Ruturaj Gaikwad’s omission, saying a century no longer guarantees selection in the national team.

Former India chief selector Kris Srikkanth has commented on Ruturaj Gaikwad’s omission from India’s ODI squad for the New Zealand series. Srikkanth remarked that Gaikwad’s snub highlights how difficult it has become to secure a place in the national team.

Gaikwad recently scored an ODI century against South Africa but still missed out on selection. India retained Rishabh Pant in the squad, despite him not featuring in the South Africa series. The return of Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill further reduced available slots.

Srikanth added that strong domestic performances remain Gaikwad’s best route back. According to him, past international success no longer guarantees future selection.

“Maybe Ruturaj Gaikwad can say I’ve played with Dhoni so I can also keep. That’s the only way he might get selected in the team. Shreyas Iyer is a certainty, so he should have been included. But Ruturaj Gaikwad should have been in the 15. Instead of having Nitish Kumar Reddy, keep him in the 15,” Srikkanth was quoted as saying by India Today.

“It’s saying even if you score a century, there is no chance. Now Gaikwad has to start from scratch and score a mountain of runs because they’ll forget this century against South Africa. They’ve dropped him also so he has to score big again in domestic cricket,” he added.

Srikkanth then noted that Yashasvi Jaiswal remains part of the 15-member squad despite not featuring in the playing XI.

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“Yashasvi Jaiswal also won’t play in the 11 but at least he’s in the reserves. So by being in the 15, he will at least be in the scheme of things. But with this selection, they’ve removed Ruturaj Gaikwad from the overall scheme of things and from the system itself. And when you’re removed from the system itself, everyone, including the public and the selectors, will forget about him,” he said.

“It’s very unfair. The whole idea of performance in an international match goes to waste. An effortless century like that is going to waste. Memory is short for everybody, so they’ll forget it soon,” the former cricketer concluded.