Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22: Ruturaj Gaikwad scores 5th century to equal Virat Kohli, Prithvi Shaw's record

It has been a phenomenal ride so far for young Indian opener Ruturaj Gaikwad. He has scored his fourth century in five matches of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. Playing for Maharashtra, he has done a fine job, as his team has won all the four games he has scored a century in, thus being placed third in the Elite Group D.

His latest century came on Tuesday, against Chandigarh, played at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot. Notably, all the four centuries of his have come on this ground. In this match, he played a good knock of 168, propelling his team to a five-wicket win, chasing a target of 310.

He already happens to be the highest run-scorer of the tournament this season. So far, he has scored 603 runs in five innings at a whopping average of 150.75. His scores this season happen to be 136 (vs Madhya Pradesh), 154* (vs Chhattisgarh), 124 (vs Kerala) and 21 (vs Uttarakhand) before today.

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As a result of this knock, Gaikwad has equalled the record of Virat Kohli and fellow young Indian openers Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal. All have scored five tons in a season, which is the most to date in the tournament's history. While Kohli did it back in 1009-10, Shaw and Pdikkal followed it up last season.

Meanwhile, reports have also suggested that Gaikwad finds himself in the pole position to be selected for the One-Day International (ODI) squad for the South Africa tour. The three ODIs will be played on January 19, 21 and 23. Also, with reports stating that Kohli could opt for a break during the series, he could be his perfect replacement.

As of now, he has just played a couple of Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) for India, while he was in a resounding tough during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He scored 635 in 16 innings at 45.35 and a strike rate of 136.26, including a ton and four half-centuries. He was the top-most run-scorer of the competition, thus winning the Orange Cap.