CHENNAI: India A after beating New Zealand A in the unofficial Test series will be looking forward to beating the visitors in the three limited-overs matches lined up at the MA Chidambaram Stadium from Thursday.
The India A team had a long and strenuous practice session under the watchful eyes of National Cricket Academy chief VVS Laxman and former Indian spinner and coach Sairaj Bahutule. Laxman himself personally gave throw-downs till late in the evening and even the likes of Shardul Thakur benefitted from the former batter’s drills.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, who had a long stint in the nets, was happy to be at his ‘home ground’. He was at ease at the den of Chennai Super Kings and was looking forward to enjoying his game against New Zealand A in the three limited overs games.
With the team for the T20 World Cup in Australia selected, many in current India A team would sulk at the lost opportunity. But not Gaikwad, who knows the reasons for his omission and just wants to have game time.
‘’I think I obviously can’t replace the top three (Indian team for World Cup). Obviously, I am not thinking much about that. And about the game time, it’s been a long time. So obviously, even in the Tests, there was a great opportunity to play. Even in the one-day games looking forward to a good opportunity to play and spend some time here and just enjoy,’’ said Gaikwad.
“I think in a player’s career there will be ups and downs so I just try to make sure that I keep progressing as a human being, as a player, as a cricketer with whatever help I can get from the support staff. So I think the main goal is to keep on improving each and every day, you go out for practice sessions, you try and improve in that and you try and rectify mistakes, and just keep improving,” he added.
In the third unofficial Test at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Gaikwad made a century in the first innings and scored 94 in the second in India A’s big win. For a player mostly seen as a white-ball specialist, these knocks proved he can do it with red ball too.
"I think it was good because I got to spend some time on the wicket especially. Obviously, I was playing red ball after a very long time. So it was a bit challenging for me. In the first two innings I played I got out early. But you know I was happy that I made progress in the last two innings where I got some runs. I am not judging myself only by the runs I made. There was a change in the mindset and there was a change in the thought process. And so I can say that I made progress from the first two innings to the second," explained Gaikwad on his red-ball experience.
Laxman was a technically sound batsman, who was a delight to watch as a stroke maker. For the most part of his career, he played with panache under pressure with the tail. A lot of cricketers have benefitted from interacting with him at the NCA.
“I think Laxman sir has always been a great support. From what I have seen him he doesn’t go too much into technical aspects for a lot of people. And personally, also he has been a great support throughout the time. He is someone who gives you a lot of confidence. And makes sure that you know how to back your ability,” said Gaikwad.