Ruturaj Gaikwad is on the cusp of a dramatic ODI comeback after nearly two years, with strong indications that he will walk out at No. 4 for India in Sunday’s series opener against South Africa at the JSCA Stadium. The Maharashtra batter, whose last 50-over appearance came in December 2023, was seen in an intense, prolonged one-on-one discussion with head coach Gautam Gambhir during Friday’s nets, where the mentor worked extensively on Gaikwad’s driving technique and footwork against spin.
With regular captain Shubman Gill and vice-captain Shreyas Iyer ruled out due to injury, two middle-order slots have opened up, and Gambhir appears to have zeroed in on Gaikwad as the solution at the pivotal No. 4 position. Traditionally an opener in white-ball cricket, Ruturaj has quietly impressed management with his ability to bat long and handle spin in the middle overs during domestic tournaments and the recent India A series against South Africa A (where he scored a century and a fifty).
Sources close to the team revealed that Gambhir has been personally grooming Gaikwad for the role, spending extra time in the nets to fine-tune his game for subcontinental conditions. The coach’s animated gestures and detailed feedback, captured in viral training photos, underline a clear plan: deploy Gaikwad as a stabilizer-cum-accelerator between Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, allowing India to play an extra bowler or all-rounder lower down.
A likely India XI for Ranchi now reads: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (c & wk), Rishabh Pant/Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, and Harshit Rana.
Gaikwad’s inclusion at No. 4 would be a bold tactical move by the Gambhir-Agarkar leadership, signalling early experimentation for the 2027 ODI World Cup cycle while addressing immediate concerns over India’s brittle middle order in recent white-ball outings. If confirmed at the toss, it will mark one of the most intriguing positional shifts for an Indian batter in years and a massive vote of confidence in the 28-year-old’s versatility.