Chennai Super Kings and India batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad is not usually seen bowling. But while playing for Maharashtra in the Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament, Ruturaj not only bowled but also took a wicket. In the last moments of the match against Chhattisgarh, Saurabh Majumdar hit a six off Ruturaj’s ball. On the very next ball, Ruturaj took a caught-and-bowled and ended Chhattisgarh’s innings at 252.
This was the first time Ruturaj Gaikwad played top-level cricket after his elbow injury. He was ruled out in the middle of IPL 2025 because of the injury. After that, MS Dhoni returned as captain of Chennai Super Kings for the rest of the season.
What is the Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament?
The Buchi Babu tournament is one of the oldest cricket events in India. It is named after Mothavarapu Venkata Mahipathi Naidu, also known as Buchi Babu Naidu, who was a pioneer of cricket in Tamil Nadu. The tournament returned in 2023 after a gap of six years and is held every year before the domestic season.
This year, 16 teams are playing, including two TNCA teams – President’s XI and TNCA XI. Matches are being played at many venues in Chennai. The winner will get Rs 3 lakh and the runner-up will get Rs 2 lakh.
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In the league stage, every match lasts three days. Each team gets 90 overs in the first innings and 45 overs in the second. In the knockout stage, matches are four days long, with 90 overs in both innings.
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
Maharashtra vs Chhattisgarh Match
In his first game for Maharashtra, Prithvi Shaw took three catches to dismiss Amandeep Khare, Shashank Chandrakar, and Varun Bhuie. At the time of writing, Maharashtra are chasing 252 and are 88/4. Shaw is unbeaten on 65 with Siddharth Mhatre, while Gaikwad scored just one run.
For Chhattisgarh, Avnish Singh Dhaliwal and Sanjeet Desai scored fifties, while Shubham Agarwal made 41.
This is Gaikwad’s first professional match since his elbow injury in IPL 2025. He had earlier played for India A in a warm-up game before the England Test series. Gaikwad and wicketkeeper Saurabh Navale may leave after this match to join the West Zone team in the Duleep Trophy in Bengaluru.
Maharashtra’s squad includes Ankit Bawane (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prithvi Shaw, Siddhesh Veer, Sachin Dhaas, Arshin Kulkarni, Harshal Kate, Siddharth Mhatre, Saurabh Navale (wk), Mandar Bhandari (wk), Ramakrishna Ghosh, Mukesh Chaudhary, Pradeep Dadhe, Vicky Ostwal, Hitesh Walunj, Prashant Solanki, and Rajvardhan Hungergekar.