Winning medal will be very special: Gaikwad after named captain for Asian Games team

ROSEAU: After being named as the captain for the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games scheduled to take place from September 23 to October 8 in a T20 format, Ruturaj Gaikwad said that his dream would be to win a gold medal. Ruturaj is all set to lead Team India in the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games as the Men’s Selection Committee on Friday announce Men in Blue squad for the tournament.

BCCI on Saturday posted a video of Rujuraj where he said, "The dream will be to win a gold medal, stand on the podium and listen to the National anthem for the country."

"Really thankful for this opportunity. Playing for India itself is a proud feeling. Leading the side in such a big event will be a great opportunity for me personally and also for all the other members. So really looking forward, really happy and obviously very proud," Rujuraj said in the video posted by BCCI's Twitter handle.

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A happy and proud @Ruutu1331 is excited to lead #TeamIndia at the #AsianGames pic.twitter.com/iPZfVU2XW8

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 15, 2023

“I think it will be great fun because we all are youngsters and we have been really gelling around well with each other for the last one or two years, playing the IPL against each other, playing the India A games. Then some India games as well so I think it’s a really fun group to be a part of and I think it will be really exciting for everyone who is part of the squad to represent the country in the Asian Games and obviously to win a medal for the country is something we always grew up watching on television and seeing athletes win it for the country. Obviously to get the opportunity to go out there and win the medal will be very, very special,” he added.

Asian Games will take place in China this year from September 23 to October 8, 2023. Cricket will be featured in the multi-sport event. However, veteran players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, KL Rahul, and Jasprit Bumrah will miss the Asian Games.

After a solid performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, Rinku Singh has been included in the Indian team for Asian Games.

On the back of their fine IPL performances wicketkeeper-batters Jitesh Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh claimed a place in the squad. Gaikwad slammed 590 runs in 16 matches for CSK, while Jitesh and Rinku scored 309 and 474 runs for Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively.

Meanwhile, Ruturaj Gaikwad has been appointed as the captain of the Indian team in the Asian Games while Yashasvi Jaiswal who currently is in red-hot form and playing in the first Test against West Indies, found a place in the squad.

Shivam Dube who was the backbone of Chennai Super Kings' middle order batting (CSK) in the IPL 2023 has been recalled to the Indian team for Asian Games.

Team India (Senior Men) squad for Asian Games: Ruturaj Gaikwad (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Shivam Dube and Prabhsimran Singh (wk). Standby list of players: Yash Thakur, Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda and Sai Sudarsan.