Abhishek Sharma vs Ruturaj Gaikwad - last 8 innings in T20Is

Abhishek Sharma has had a quiet run in T20Is so far in recent times. In the last five T20Is, Abhishek has scored just 46 runs and the heat might be increasing on him

In the ongoing series against South Africa, Abhishek has returned scores of 7 and 4 in two innings. Since that hundred against Zimbabwe in just his second T20I, Abhishek hasn't been at his best opening the batting for India in the format

In the last eight innings in T20Is, Abhishek has aggregated 170 runs at an average of 21.25. If that century against Zimbabwe is kept aside, the picture is pretty dreary with the second-highest score being 16

Abhishek will be keen to get a few runs under his belt in the remaining two games against South Africa. With no other proper opening option, Abhishek will get these two games. However, since first-choice players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shubman Gill are likely to come back for the England series, Abhishek will be keen not to lose his place from the side

Ruturaj Gaikwad, on the other hand, despite scores under the belt, hasn't played a T20I for India since the Zimbabwe series. Gaikwad has been pushed in red-ball cricket by the BCCI but with negligible returns, that experiment might end soon

Gaikwad has flourished as an opener, as well as while batting at No 3 and 4 for India in recent times. In the Zimbabwe series itself, Gaikwad returned scores of 7 and 77 at three and 49 at four

In the last eight innings, Gaikwad has amassed 356 runs, which includes an unbeaten century against Australia and a couple of fifties as well. Gaikwad's average in the last eight innings stands at 59.33 and he scored these runs at a strike rate of 155.4

Gaikwad definitely deserves another go with the T20 team having put up scores whenever he has gotten the opportunity but might face competition from Yashasvi Jaiswal for the opener's slot if Sanju Samson is persisted with at the top