IND vs ENG: Rajat Patidar Is Now A ‘Serious Headache’ For Rohit Sharma And Rahul Dravid

Has Rajat Patidar become a “serious headache” for the Indian team management headed by captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid? Veteran cricket journalist Vikrant Gupta feels so.

With chances to get into India’s playing XI scarce for any new player, when you get the opportunity you should aim to maximize it.

While Sarfaraz Khan blitzed his way to a 66-ball 62-run knock on his debut Test innings in Rajkot against England, Rajat Patidar, who made his debut in the second Test in Vizag ahead of Sarfaraz, has failed to leave an impression yet.

He did look good in his maiden innings of 32 runs in Vizag, but since then he has bagged three single-digit scores, and it seems that he could be dropped from the fourth Test as KL Rahul is in line to return.

Rajat Patidar’s scores in the series against England so far: 32(72), 9(19), 5(15), 0(10). Thrice he has suffered what could be called soft dismissals, getting out to deliveries that he shouldn’t have got out to. In the second innings in Rajkot, he rocked back to a short delivery from Tom Hartley to pull and collect a boundary but didn’t connect his pull well and gave a straight catch to Rehan Ahmed at short mid-wicket.
Rajat Patidar

Rajat Patidar is now a serious headache for Indian team management: Vikrant Gupta

Senior journalist Vikrant Gupta of Sports Tak opined on Twitter that Patidar’s failure to make a big score has led to him being a “serious headache” in terms of selection for Rohit and Dravid for the next Test.

Vikrant tweeted, “Rajat Patidar unfortunately is officially now a serious headache for Indian team management
#INDvENGTest”
With only 46 runs in 4 innings, he is ranked 20th in the runs list in this series, the worst among the batters and all-rounders. As KL Rahul is expected to return to the XI in the fourth Test in Ranchi, it is looking very likely that Patidar will be dropped.

Meanwhile, India have taken a strong hold on the Rajkot Test courtesy of a century from Jaiswal and a half-century from Gill. At stumps on Day 3, India has a lead of 322 runs and 8 wickets in hand.

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