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Rajat Patidar, the batter for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Madhya Pradesh, will make his Test debut for India on Friday, February 2 at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in the second Test against England. Patidar received his first Test cap from former India bowler Zaheer Khan, who also offered some words of support.
After scoring two hundreds in the tour game and the first unofficial test against the England Lions, Patidar enters the starting XI. In the tour match, he scored 111, and during the first unofficial Test, he reinforced that with 151. Throughout the 55 first-class matches he has participated in in his professional career thus far, the right-handed batsman has amassed 4000 runs.
In the first-class space, Patidar averages 45.97, whereas Sarfaraz, who has been scoring runs with unmatched regularity lately, has an incredible 69.85 average in the same circuit. In his brief career, Sarfaraz has participated in 45 first-class matches and scored 3912 runs.
Notably, Patidar replaces KL Rahul, therefore he has huge shoes to fill in his debut. Rahul was sidelined for the second Test after complaining of right quadriceps soreness, after scoring 86 runs during the first innings in the Hyderabad Test.
Kuldeep Yadav and Mukesh Kumar also came back into the team at the expense of injured Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj. They would be hoping to make a mark for their side in this crucial encounter.
“I have been interacting with Rahul sir” : Rajat Patidar
The Madhya Pradesh cricket player said that he has gained much from sharing the locker room with both captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid during the current five-match series.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore batter said, “I have played with many Indian players in the domestic circuit. I have been interacting with Rahul sir since the last two series. I had not spoken a lot with Rohit bhai but I got to speak with him on this tour about batting. He shared his experiences in the nets, all this has increased my confidence.”
Fans react as India make three changes for second Test against England: –
Zaheer Khan handed the Test cap to Rajat Patidar.
– Welcome to Test cricket, Patidar. pic.twitter.com/JlFS4TlrmT
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 2, 2024
Patidar is playing in the place of rohit sharma?
— ??? ???? (@Bhai_saheb) February 2, 2024
Congratulations Rajat patidar, well deserved ?? pic.twitter.com/Z2Av6BEHsg
— Kirkett (@bhaskar_sanu08) February 2, 2024
Best wishes to Rajat Patidar for a bright future.???
— ??????? ??? (@WINRAT__Goatli) February 2, 2024
Score a big one on debut
— Habib Malik (@HabibMalik626) February 2, 2024
Congratulations ???
— Muhammad Tauqeer Hussain (@Tauqeer610890) February 2, 2024
??????
— surviver666 (@surviver666) February 2, 2024
Seriously patidar ahead of sarfraz how???
— Riyaz-S (@MahiRutuNation) February 2, 2024
Gill ya Iyer ki jagah pe Sarfraz ko khilate.
— Syed RASHID Ali (??? ????? ???) (@SyedRashid8548) February 2, 2024
Future of cricket ????
— Kohli lover ? ? (@mncmrm004) February 2, 2024
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