After getting off the mark with a boundary on his first ball in the Duleep Trophy second-round match between India C and India B, Ruturaj Gaikwad, the India C captain, was forced to retire hurt on the second ball of the match on Thursday. The exact cause of Gaikwad's departure was unknown, but there were reports of him getting hit on the hand by a Mukesh Kumar delivery on day 1 of the match in Anantapur, leaving him grimacing in pain.

Rajat Patidar replaced Gaikwad in the middle. Patidar joined Gaikwad's opening partner Sai Sudharsan. The duo put together a solid partnership to get India C off to a good start despite the early setback of their captain. Their 92-run stand was broken when Patidar was bowled by Navdeep Saini for 41. Sudharsan followed his partner to the pavilion after getting dismissed by Mukesh Kumar in the next over for 43.

The quick wickets brought Ishan Kishan and Baba Indrajith into the crease. There was no sign of Gaikwad till lunch on day 1. The only reliable source of live updates for the match was the BCCI website as there was no live coverage of this match, which was taking place at at the Rural Development Trust Stadium “B” in Anantapur.

The other second-round match between India A and India D, which is being played in the "A" ground of the same venue, was, however, televised by Jio Cinema and Sports 18 network.

This left the fans disappointed as the criticised the BCCI for not being able to ensure live coverage for both the matches.

BCCI slammed by fans for not ensuring live coverage of Duleep Trophy match between India C and India B

Gaikwad, who did not have a great outing in the Duleep Trophy opener against India D, scoring 5 and 46 in his two attempts, would be hoping the injury is not serious and he gets to return to the crease soon as these matches are extremely crucial for him to get his spot back in the Indian Test squad.

Gaikwad's international career has been a stop-and-start one. He has been there and there about in the T20I and ODI teams but hasn't quite been able to cement his place at the top of the order. He only gets to play when regulars Rohit Sharma or Shubman Gill are unavailable. As far as red-ball cricket is concerned, Gaikwad has been away from the setup ever since he was ruled out of the South Africa tour with a finger injury. Earlier, he was picked for the West Indies but did not get to play as Yashasvi Jaiswal was preferred over him.

Gaikwad has yet to make his Test debut.

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