Indian team management unhappy with Ruturaj Gaikwad's recurring injuries as batter is ruled out of NZ T20Is: Reports

Indian opener Ruturaj Gaikwad will reportedly miss out on the T20I series against New Zealand beginning on Friday, January 27 due to a recurring wrist injury. According to reports from Cricbuzz, Gaikwad complained of wrist pain multiple times and will now be monitored at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

The decision-makers in the team management are also reportedly unhappy with the way Gaikwad has failed to maintain his fitness. He had also missed the T20Is against Sri Lanka last year with a similar injury.

It is highly unlikely that the men in Blue will announce a replacement for Gaikwad immediately, as they already have Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan as their opening options.

Ishan Kishan is likely to don the gloves and open the batting in the first T20I. But will the team management back Gill to replicate his ODI form in T20Is? Or will they give Shaw a much-needed opportunity to showcase his talent? Only time will tell.

India’s T20I squad against New Zealand: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Suryakumar Yadav (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Prithvi Shaw, Mukesh Kumar.

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Ravindra Jadeja's fate to be decided by Indian team management after NCA reports

Meanwhile, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been very keen to prove his fitness for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He is currently leading Saurashtra in their Ranji Trophy encounter against Tamil Nadu.

Jadeja was away from competitive cricket for six months as he was recovering from a knee injury after undergoing surgery and rehabilitation. However, with the pre-series camp set to begin on February 2 in Nagpur, reports suggest that India will wait for the report from the NCA trainer, who is closely monitoring Jadeja's match fitness. Only then will a final call be taken.