The batters are running riots in the domestic circuit as the One Day Squad for New Zealand series is set to be announced in the coming week. Indian batter Ruturaj Gaikwad scored a brilliant century for Maharashtra in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy on December 31. His innings of 124 off 113 balls helped Maharashtra post a mammoth total of 331/7 in 50 overs against Uttarakhand. The right-handed batter rescued his side from a precarious position of 100/4.
Ruturaj Gaikwad continues to stake the claim for the middle order spot in the upcoming ODI series against New Zealand. He has featured in nine ODIs so far, most recently in the home series against South Africa last month, where he registered his maiden ODI century of 77 balls. Gaikwad had batted at No. 4 in that series in the absence of Shreyas Iyer.
Sarfaraz Khan continued his good form and smashed a 75-ball 157 to take Mumbai to 444/8 in 50 overs against Goa in the Vijay Hazare Trophy clash at the Jaipuria Vidyalaya Ground in Jaipur. His knock featured nine boundaries and 14 maximums. He ensured Mumbai to the massive total as his brother Musheer Khan, who scored 60 off 66, was the second highest scorer from the Mumbai team.
Meanwhile, Devdutt Padikkal and Mayank Agarwal also scored centuries in the match between Karnataka and Puducherry. Devdutt Padikkal scored 113 off 116 balls and his form in List A has been supreme. Padikkal had scored 147 against Jharkhand on December 24 and followed it up with 124 against Kerala two days later at the same venue.
This innings was Padikkal’s sixth century in his last eight List A innings. Remarkably, only two of his last 12 List A knocks have been less than fifty also includes four half-centuries. Overall, he has scored 2,364 runs in 36 List A matches at an average of 81.51, with 11 hundreds, yet remains uncapped in ODIs and is staking a claim to be picked for the Indian side.
