"He deserves a long rope" Robin Uthappa on Ruturaj Gaikwad's exclusion from Sri Lanka tour

Robin Uthappa believes Ruturaj Gaikwad has the potential to be an all-format player for India.

Former India batsman Robin Uthappa feels opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has been snubbed for the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, should get a long rope in the Indian side.

Despite performing well in the T20I series in Zimbabwe, Gaikwad was overlooked for the upcoming three-match T20I series in Sri Lanka. The selectors stuck with Shubman Gill, who was the captain in Zimbabwe and is now the new white-ball vice-captain, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was on the bench throughout the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, as two openers in the T20I side.

Against Zimbabwe, Gaikwad racked up scores of 49 (28) and 77* (47), but not while opening.

Speaking with reporters in an interaction organised by broadcasters Sony Sports, Robin Uthappa threw his support for Gaikwad.

“To be honest, the quality of players we have, everyone deserves a long rope. I believe Ruturaj Gaikwad deserves a long rope. I think he is a three-format player along with the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill. So for me, someone like Ruturaj deserves to get a long rope,” Uthappa said.

Abhishek Sharma is going to be the future of Indian cricket: Robin Uthappa

Apart from Gaikwad, another player who was mightily impressive in Zimbabwe but wasn’t picked for the T20Is against Sri Lanka is Abhishek Sharma. In the second T20I in Harare, Abhishek cracked a 46-ball century.

On Abhishek Sharma’s snub, Uthappa said, “Abhishek Sharma has shown his class as a T20 player. I have always said this guy is going to be the future of Indian cricket. Having said that there is competition within this group. We have to understand that there is one Indian team and the quality of players and we can make three of four quality international teams. Players have to wait for the opportunity to come their way.”

The India’s tour of Sri Lanka 2024, consisting of three T20Is and as many ODIs will be played from July 27 to August 7. The live coverage of the entire tour will be available in India on Sony Sports Ten 5 & Sony Sports Ten 1 in English, Sony Sports Ten 3 in Hindi and Sony Sports Ten 4 channels in Tamil & Telugu.

Sony Sports Network is the official broadcaster of the India’s tour of Sri Lanka 2024 in India.

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