Cricket News: Ruturaj Gaikwad & Riyan Parag have played for a future call-up to India

Ruturaj Gaikwad made history by becoming the first-ever player in List A cricket to hit seven sixes in the same over. 

The Maharashtra captain notched up the feat in the quarterfinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, with Uttar Pradesh’s Shiva Singh the unfortunate victim of Ruturaj Gaikwad at his best. 

Due to one no-ball being bowled, Ruturaj Gaikwad could take a total of 43 runs off the over – which matched the combined efforts of Brett Hampton and Joe Carter during a Ford Trophy game in 2018, when they scored 43 runs off Willem Ludick. 

But Ruturaj Gaikwad scored all of those 43 runs himself – which was a first. And it instantly shot him back into the collective conscience of the Indian cricket fandom. 

Then, not to be outdone, Riyan Parag decided to remind the cricketing world about his ability. With Assam chasing a stiff target of 351 against Jammu & Kashmir in their quarterfinal, Parag went into attack mode. 

He scored a blistering 174 that helped Assam reach the target with consummate ease and set up a semi-final clash against Karnataka. 

Riyan Parag is the third-highest run-getter in this edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy with 537 runs in 8 innings at an average of 76.71 and a strike rate of 122.88. 

He’s also taken nine wickets throughout the tournament, meaning he is more than a handy option with the ball. 

Now let’s be clear – no one is saying that both of these players need to be brought into the line-up right here and now. But both could potentially plug a hole in the squad shortly. 

India needs openers who inject the game with positive attacking intent from ball one, and Ruturaj Gaikwad is the perfect example of such a batsman. 

His ability to start the game in fourth gear and only go up from there on is something this India team badly needs – evidenced by their slow starts in the 2022 T20 World Cup. 

As for Riyan Parag, he isn’t a full-time bowler and given he bowls standard off-spin, he won’t be someone who can bowl ten overs per game. 

However, his handy bowling can come good for a few overs here or there. And this India team currently lacks batters who can also bowl part-time. 

There’s also the fact that Riyan Parag is a batsman who looks to go hard from ball one, and India can use more such batters in either the middle or lower middle order if necessary. 

Neither of these players have done their chances of a future call-up any harm with these performances – the key now is to sustain it, potentially into the IPL season, and make a case so compelling to the selectors that they have no choice but to draft them in.