NEWS
Follow UsA rampant Mumbai pace attack reduced Maharashtra to 41/5 inside the first hour at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy in BKC and it was Shardul Thakur who kickstarted proceedings in the very first over, dismissing both Sachin Dhas and Ruturaj Gaikwad for a duck.
Gaikwad, who batted in the middle-order in the clash against Jammu & Kashmir, moved back to the top of the order but lasted only two balls, getting caught off the bowling of Thakur.
The Maharashtra skipper started the season brightly with an 82 against J&K, but on this occasion, he failed to trouble the scorers after shifting back to the top.
His dismissal kick-started an early morning collapse as Maharashtra were reduced to 118/8 inside the first session. The duck means that Gaikwad’s average as an opener this calendar year reads 30.12.
The 27-year-old is gunning to be a reserve batter for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia but is facing stiff competition from Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has smashed four hundreds in his last four first-class matches. Both the batters are expected to feature in the unofficial Tests against Australia A, representing India A, starting at the end of this month.
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