"One thing he has to understand is..." - Vikram Rathour opens up on Rajat Patidar's poor form
Team India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour has talked in the press conference ahead of the fourth Test between India and England which will be played at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium in Ranchi. He talked about Rajat Patidar, backing the batter after the not-so-memorable first two Tests. Rajat Patidar scored 32 in the first innings on his debut and after that, he managed two single-digit scores and a duck in the following innings which has put a question mark on his selection.
Rajat Patidar was included in the Test squad after Virat Kohli opted out of the series due to the birth of his second child. He had a good record in first-class cricket and has played a lot of cricket for Madhya Pradesh.
He has performed well in domestic cricket and as a result, he got the opportunity to represent the Indian side. Patidar has amassed more than 4000 runs in First-Class cricket at an average of 44.46 in 97 innings. He has smashed 12 centuries and 22 half-centuries which shows his prowess in red-ball cricket with the bat.
Rajat Patidar made his India debut in the ODI format against South Africa in December 2023. He played only one ODI where he scored 22 and he made his Test debut during the second Test of the ongoing Test series against England which was played in Vizag. India won the second and the third Test after losing the series opener in Hyderabad by 28 runs.
India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour talked about Rajat Patidar in the press conference backing the Madhya Pradesh batter. The 30-year-old batter has not had a good start to his Test career and is hoping to make his mark in the upcoming Test.
Rajat Patidar might play in the fourth Test
“We have been having a lot of conversations with him [Patidar]. One thing he has to understand is that this is how this game works. He has been batting really well and scoring a lot of runs to get into the team.
“Two poor games don’t make him a bad player. He just had two tough games, couple of awkward dismissals, which can happen to anyone. There is absolutely no doubt that he is a good player. On his day, he will come up with an impactful innings,” Vikram Rathour said.
KL Rahul has been ruled out of the fourth Test as well which gives a golden chance to Rajat Patidar to score some runs and secure his position in the team. India will most likely play the same team with one change as Akash Deep is expected to make his debut for the Indian team in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah who is most likely to miss the fourth Test due to workload issues.
India has not lost a Test series at home since 2012 and has won 16 consecutive Test series at home since then. They were last defeated by England in 2012 when Sir Alastair Cook led the team to a 2-1 win in the four-match series. Rohit Sharma and company will be hoping to win the fourth Test in Ranchi and seal the series as a win would give India the series whereas England needs to win both Tests from here to win the series which is a tough ask.
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IND vs ENG 2024 India National Cricket Team India vs England Test series Rajat Patidar Vikram Rathour
