Ruturaj Gaikwad's Snarling 42-Ball 19 On ODI Debut Triggers Memes And Jokes On Twitter

On a tricky pitch, Gaikwad struggled to showcase the batting ability that he has profoundly displayed in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

One of the most promising young batters in Indian cricket, Ruturaj Gaikwad made his ODI debut for the national team against South Africa in Lucknow on Thursday. On a tricky pitch, Gaikwad struggled to showcase the batting ability that he has profoundly displayed in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) over the last couple of seasons. In fact, his performance triggered a huge meme fest on social media, with fans struggling to understand the snarling nature of his knock. Ruturaj Gaikwad 19 (42ball)Ishan Kishan 20(36ball)Future Indian openers pic.twitter.com/Hn5TEhjRj9 Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad played for to just Secured there place..Ishan Kishan #Ruturaj GaikwadLord Shardul Thakur #SanjuSamson#IndvsSAodi pic.twitter.com/eOm0DpDPgg We lost the match there when Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan played 80 ball with only 39 runs.Well played Sanju Samson and Shardul Thakur #INDvsSA Ruturaj Gaikwad against Rabada today. pic.twitter.com/aieYryuRnt Ruturaj Gaikwad 18*(39), meanwhile lower order batters be like :We would have to play T20 cricket todayRequired Runrate : 8.27#INDvsSA#RuturajGaikwad pic.twitter.com/4sksrUBr09 Ruturaj Gaikwad, just like his selfish FC( reference to CSK FC) , played a really selfish innings pic.twitter.com/dcoOj6L7zx

The pitch, at the beginning of India's batting, looked a difficult one. The nature of the wicket can be understood with the fact that India lost openers Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill for meagre scores of 4 and 3 respectively.

Gaikwad looked to buy some time and weathered the storm, but could only score 19 runs off 42 balls before being dismissed by Tabraiz Shamsi. Gaikwad's strike-rate became a huge talking point on social media.

Here are some tweets: