Ruturaj Gaikwad opts out of Championship deal with Yorkshire
Leeds: India batter Ruturaj Gaikwad has pulled out of a County Championship deal with Yorkshire due to personal reasons.
The Chennai Super Kings captain had agreed a five-match deal, starting with the game against reigning champions Surrey at Scarborough from July 22.
Yorkshire head coach Anthony McGrath said the county are assessing their options regarding a replacement, but there are other things to contend with as well ahead of the 10th round clash.
“Unfortunately Gaikwad’s not coming now for personal reasons,” said McGrath. “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,” he added.
Sharing his excited after signing the deal last month, Gaikwad had said, “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.”
Maharashtra batter Gaikwad has been sidelined since April 8 after fracturing his elbow while captaining Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2025 season. Though he recovered in time to earn a spot in the India A squad for the tour of England, he remained on the bench for both fixtures against the England Lions.
While Gaikwad has made a name for himself in white-ball cricket, his red-ball performances have been less consistent. He averages 41.77 in First-Class cricket, with 2,632 runs from 38 matches. His struggles were particularly evident during India A’s tour of Australia last year, where he managed just 20 runs across four innings.
In the 2024–25 Indian domestic season, Gaikwad accumulated 571 runs from 12 innings, including a lone century.