In a significant setback for India C, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was forced to retire hurt after facing just two balls during their Duleep Trophy 2024 match against India B at the Rural Development Trust Stadium in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh. Gaikwad, who struck a boundary off the first ball he faced, twisted his ankle on the next delivery from pacer Mukesh Kumar and had to leave the field.

Despite this early blow, India C showed resilience with a valuable partnership between Sai Sudharsan and Rajat Patidar. Sudharsan scored 43 runs off 75 balls, while Patidar added 40 runs from 67 balls. Their 92-run stand for the second wicket was instrumental in stabilizing the innings.

After Sudharsan and Patidar were dismissed in quick succession, Ishan Kishan and Baba Indrajith took over the rebuilding task for India C. Reports suggest that Gaikwad’s injury is not serious, and he is expected to return to bat in the second innings. This injury comes as a challenging moment in Gaikwad’s recent red-ball cricket career, following a previous finger injury that ruled him out of India’s Test squad against South Africa last December.

The 27-year-old Gaikwad, who also captains the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, has had a notable first-class career with 2,092 runs in 30 games, including six centuries and ten fifties. The match started with India B captain Abhimanyu Easwaran winning the toss and choosing to bowl first.

India C's squad for the match includes Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Ishan Kishan, Baba Indrajith, Abhishek Porel (Wk), Anshul Kamboj, Mayank Markande, Manav Suthar, Vyshak Vijay Kumar, and Sandeep Warrier. India B’s lineup features Abhimanyu Easwaran, Narayan Jagadeesan (Wk), Musheer Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Sai Kishore, Navdeep Saini, Rahul Chahar, and Mukesh Kumar.