SA vs. IND: Ruturaj Gaikwad was taken aback as the team bus door abruptly closed behind him.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, the opening batsman for Team India, was unintentionally put in a funny predicament before Sunday’s first ODI against South Africa at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.

Perhaps in a moment of distraction, the bus driver locked the door in front of Ruturaj Gaikwad as he was preparing to board, temporarily confusing the batter. Social media users swiftly shared the footage of the incident, which showed Gaikwad’s embarrassing attempt to come up with a different entry.

Bus Driver after Ruturaj Gaikwad scores 5(10).pic.twitter.com/fplUBMOEdc

— Arun Singh (@ArunTuThikHoGya) December 17, 2023

The bus driver is seen in the video making a hand gesture after shutting the door, leaving Gaikwad looking around for an answer while wearing a rather bewildered expression. The incident continues the recent string of dramatic bus trips for Team India; a previous clip showed T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav appearing to chastise Arshdeep Singh inside the vehicle.

Even though these were jovial instances, the team’s attention soon turned to on-field problems. On a used surface, Team India’s bowlers displayed remarkable skill as they restricted the hosts to a meager 116 runs. This was mostly because Avesh Khan took four wickets as well as Arshdeep Singh’s incredible five-wicket haul. Both veteran batsman Shreyas Iyer and rookie Sai Sudharsan scored fifty runs each while chasing the goal of one hundred and seventeen. Their efforts helped India win by a comfortable eight wickets.

During the first ODI, Ruturaj Gaikwad did not impress.

Ruturaj Gaikwad’s innings, however, fell short of expectations when Wiaan Mulder removed him for just five runs in the fourth over of the run chase. Gaikwad is keen to recover in the next few games after missing the entire T20I series owing to illness.

Prior to the South Africa tour, Gaikwad had demonstrated his abilities at home in a 4-1 T20I series win over Australia, finishing as the team’s top run scorer. All eyes will be on Gaikwad’s performance in the second ODI, which is set for Tuesday, December 19, as Team India leads the three-match ODI series 1-0.