Ruturaj Gaikwad, an Indian batter, has withdrawn from his County Championship tenure with Yorkshire, just days before his scheduled debut. The skipper of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) abruptly left the English domestic season citing to personal reasons, despite having signed a five-match contract last month.
Ruturaj Gaikwad’s absence was confirmed by Yorkshire head coach Anthony McGrath prior to their County Championship match against Surrey, the reigning champions, at Scarborough on July 22.
“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. I can’t give you anything more than that at the moment,” said Yorkshire head coach Anthony McGrath as quoted by the Indian Express.
The county club has yet to provide information on the reason behind Ruturaj Gaikwad’s withdrawal. The batter from Maharashtra had stated how excited he was to participate in the English domestic season.
“I’m excited to be joining up with Yorkshire for the rest of the English domestic season. It has always been a goal of mine to experience cricket in this country, and there is no bigger Club in England than Yorkshire.”
Ruturaj Gaikwad
Ruturaj Gaikwad was recently included in India A’s squad for England tour
In the meantime, the batter has struggled in recent months with form and fitness. During the IPL 2025 season, he was leading CSK when he suffered a fractured elbow. He was out after just five games, averaging 24.40. He did not play in either of the two games against the England Lions, despite later being added to the India A team for the England tour.
He has amassed 2632 runs at an average of 41.77 in 38 First-Class cricket matches. In the 2024 India A tour of Australia, he made his final First-Class appearance, scoring a meager 20 runs in four innings. He struck a century and 571 runs in 12 innings during the 2024–25 Indian domestic season.
