'Ruturaj Gaikwad left out of 1st Bangladesh Test: Agarkar, BCCI under fire as CSK captain faces backlash from fans'

Gaikwad, with an impressive first-class average of 42.69, is still waiting for his chance to make his Test debut. His primary position as an opening batsman has been a major hurdle in breaking into the Indian team, where Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal currently hold the top-order spots. Rohit, as the captain of the team, is a guaranteed starter due to his consistent performances. Yashasvi, on the other hand, has been in stellar form, scoring over 700 runs in the Test series against England. Additionally, Shubman Gill found his rhythm in the same series, finishing as the second-highest run-scorer with 452 runs. With such strong competition in the top order, it has been challenging for Gaikwad to secure a place in the Indian team.

However, some fans were not impressed and bashed the selection committee for Gaikwad's exclusion from the Test squad for the first Bangladesh Test.

The inclusion of Pant was the biggest takeaway from India's squad, as he has not played since 2022 after he missed competitive cricket for about 14 months due to a horrific car accident.

Pant has impressed since his return to elite cricket last year and has kept up form across formats, including in the team's T20 World Cup triumph in June. He will be looking to make a strong comeback in the red-ball format, where he played several incredible knocks in the past.

India’s long Test season begins with the first of the two Tests against Bangladesh in Chennai.

The second Test of the series will be played at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur from September 27 to October 1.