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Ruturaj Gaikwad takes a wicket in the Buchi Babu Trophy. (Screengrabs: Maharashtra Cricket Association X)
Chennai Super Kings and India player Ruturaj Gaikwad isn’t seen rolling his arms too often. But in a rare feat, Gaikwad, representing Maharashtra, not only bowled in the ongoing Buchi Babu tournament but also snapped up a wicket.
In the fag end of the day in the match between Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, Ruturaj was slammed for a six but came back with a vengeance when he caught and bowled Sourabh Majumdar to end Chhattisgarh’s resistance at 252 runs.
This marks the first time Gaikwad is playing any top-level cricket since suffering an elbow injury that had ruled him out halfway through the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). It had resulted in MS Dhoni making a comeback into the role of Chennai Super Kings captain for the remainder of the season.
Ruturaj Gaikwad closed the day, bowling an over and taking a wicket off to wrap up today’s Chhattisgarh’s innings in the Day 1 of the Buchi Babu Multi-Day Tournament🏏
Video Courtesy: TNCA#MCA #MCAcricket #Mahacricket #TeamMaha #cricketmaharashtra pic.twitter.com/jzdM29ULdo
— Maharashtra Cricket Association (@MahaCricket) August 18, 2025
What is the Buchi Babu Trophy?
Hosted annually in the lead-up to the domestic cricket season, the Buchi Babu Trophy returned after a six-year hiatus in 2023. Considered to be one of the oldest-running cricket tournaments in India, the tournament is named after Mothavarapu Venkata Mahipathi Naidu, popularly known as Buchi Babu Naidu, a pioneer of cricket in Tamil Nadu.
16 teams are participating in the competition along with two teams picked by the TNCA – President’s XI and TNCA XI. The tournament will be held at multiple venues across Chennai. The winner will take receive Rs. 3 lakh while the runner-up will get Rs. 2 lakh.
In the league stage, each game lasts for three days. Each team’s first innings will consist of 90 overs, followed by a second innings of 45 overs.
Knockout matches are four-day games, with each team batting for 90 overs in both the first and second innings.
Maharashtra squad: Ankeet Bawane (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prithvi Shaw, Siddhesh Veer, Sachin Dhas, Arshin Kulkarni, Harshal Kate, Siddharth Mhatre, Saurabh Nawale (WK), Mandar Bhandari (WK), Ramakrishna Ghosh, Mukesh Choudhary, Pradeep Dadhe, Vicky Ostwal, Hitesh Walunj, Prashant Solanki, Rajvardhan Hangargekar.
English (US) ·