Ruturaj Gaikwad was a notable absentee when the BCCI senior national selectors recently announced the multi-format India A squads for the home series against Australia A.

While former cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra dismissed any bias over Gaikwad’s snub from the India A red-ball set-up, he was surprised that the 28-year-old was overlooked for the three-match 50-overs games, slated to be held in Kanpur on September 30, October 3 and October 5.

After being ruled out of the IPL 2025 midway through the season due to a fractured elbow, Gaikwad travelled with the India A red-ball squad to England but didn’t get a chance in both games and was later sidelined from the set-up.

The CSK captain returned to action earlier this month in the Duleep Trophy semi-finals, returning with scores of 184 and 16 for West Zone.

“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 said while speaking on his YouTube channel.

The ex-India opener highlighted Gaikwad’s white-ball prowess by recalling his T20I century against Australia and his leadership qualities during India’s triumphant Asia Games campaign two years ago.

“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,” Chopra stated.

“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 added.

“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,” he further remarked.

Ruturaj Gaikwad is now expected to return to action through the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy, set to begin on October 15.