'To Try and Fill His Shoes is Very Tough': Ruturaj Gaikwad on India's No. 3 Spot After Virat Kohli's Retirement

Indian international and top-order batter, Ruturaj Gaikwad recognises that it is no easy feat to fill the shoes of the retired Virat Kohli at the number three position in T20Is but the Maharashtrian batter remains focused on contributing what he can to the team as per the requirements.

With the likes of Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja calling time on their T20I careers, the Indian team will likely march on to a new era and filling the number three spot is a big question that remains to be answered.

“This is a big topic and I think it’s not the right point to think about it. To even compare with him (Kohli) or try to fill in his shoes is relatively very tough and very hard,” Gaikwad said on the eve of the third T20I against Zimbabwe.

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“Focus on one game, focus on how you can contribute towards the team in whichever position you play and make sure you are on the winning side more often than not,” he added.

Gaikwad was placed at the number three spot in the batting order. He scored a valuable 77 off 47 balls where he played second fiddle to Abhishek Sharma. Despite being used to opening the batting, he does not see much of a difference in the role.

“No, wherever the team wants, I will bat there. There is no problem. There is not much difference between the opening and the number 3 because you have to play the new ball. So there is not much difference,” he said.

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The Indian team will look to take the series lead with the third game taking place in Harare on July 10. With the likes of Gaikwad and Abhishek firing and the return of Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube, it will be interesting to see whether or not there will be major changes to the Indian starting 11 with a clear surplus in top-order batters in the Indian squad.

India’s Squad: Shubman Gill(c), Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson (wk), Riyan Parag, Rinku Singh, Dhruv Jurel(wk), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Tushar Deshpande, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shivam Dube

(with PTI Inputs)