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Indian cricketer and captain of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Ruturaj Gaikwad, who locked up a deal with Yorkshire for County Championship and One-Day Cup 2025-26 on June 10, has recently backed out of the stint. The Indian top-order batter, who was set to feature in five County Championship games from July until the conclusion of the season, has recently decided to back out of the deal, citing personal reasons.
It is to be noted that Gaikwad, who plays for Maharashtra in the domestic cricket circuit, signed a deal with Yorkshire after he was ruled out of the IPL 2025 season with an elbow injury. The Indian cricketer, who was one of the overseas signing for the County Club, was set to join the side for their upcoming clash against Surrey, but withdrew in the last minute.
Ruturaj Gaikwad withdraws from Yorkshire County stint due to personal reasons
While the Indian cricketer was set to make his Yorkshire debut, he opted out in the last minute, citing personal reasons. The Yorkshire head coach, Anthony McGrath confirmed, stating, "Unfortunately Gaikwad's not coming now for personal reasons. We're not going to have him for Scarborough or for the rest of the season. So that's disappointing.”
"I can't tell you anything about the reasons why, but we hope that everything's ok. We've literally just found out. We're working behind the scenes on what we can do. But it's only two or three days away, so I'm not sure what we can do at the moment. We're working to try and get a possible replacement, but time pressure is the issue," he continued.
Notably, Gaikwad hasn’t played a match since he was ruled out of the IPL 2025 season. He was named in the India A squad for the England tour, but did not get a match. So far after signing for Yorkshire, Gaikwad did not feature in any game but was supposed to join for their game against defending champions, Surrey.
It is to be noted that Gaikwad has played 38 First-Class matches, where he has scored 2632 runs at an average of 41.77. His last FC match came in January 2025 when Maharashtra played against Baroda in Nasik.
