The Chennai Super Kings' skipper, Ruturaj Gaikwad, has kicked off the 2025-26 domestic season in some style with a magnificent century in the Duleep Trophy.
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Gaikwad achieved the feat in the semi-finals of the premier domestic tournament as he stamped his authority under difficult batting conditions in Bengaluru.
Gaikwad starts the domestic season with a century in the Duleep Trophy
The West Zone is facing the Central Zone in the second semi-finals of the marquee domestic competition. The star-studded side led by Shardul Thakur included the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer in their side, who were dismissed cheaply.
Playing in the middle-order for his team, Gaikwad brought up his exceptional ton against the Central Zone. While the batters struggled, Gaikwad ensured keeping the West Zone's innings intact as he stitched some crucial partnerships with the other batters.
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Gaikwad has been out of the Indian side for some time now. Despite his consistent performances in the IPL and domestic cricket, the batter from Maharashtra has repeatedly failed to make it to the national squad.
The CSK skipper, earlier, missed out on the majority of the IPL due to an elbow injury. His focus will now be on piling up runs in the domestic calendar and staging an India comeback. Gaikwad has surely started the correct way with a magnificent ton and would like to continue his form.
Jaiswal and Iyer fail as the West Zone faces early troubles on Day 1
While Gaikwad got off to a great start to the domestic season, key Indian batters, including Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer, failed to make it big on Day 1 of the Semi-finals. Left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed got the better of both the batters.
Jaiswal was dismissed in the very first over of the day at a score of just 4 runs, while Iyer was cleaned up by Khaleel after getting off to a start, scoring 25 runs in his stay at the crease.
Both Jaiswal and Iyer missed out of India's squad for the Asia Cup. Jaiswal, however, was a part of the Indian squad for the England Test tour, while Iyer is currently a part of only the ODI squad.
Iyer's absence from India's Asia Cup squad created a lot of debate, with some experts even claiming that the Mumbai batter is not liked by the Indian management.
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