We need to talk about Rajat Patidar.

[tweaker]

8 hours ago, tweaker said:

Rajat Patidar may walk in the test team as Gambhir don't want Sarfaraz in the team.

Inspite of scoring huge runs for 2,3 seasons,Rajat Patidar was selected ahead of Sarfaraz.

He failed in three test ,then Sarfaraz was selected 

[singhvivek141]

Patidar is 32-33, he may have hit a purple patch but age isn't in his favour.

Better to invest on someone who is younger and play the same role

[Sean Bradley]

Hes not even in the pecking order, OP is living in delulu. 

[Sooda]

 

Rajat is a Good batsman and great to watch, though yes home track bully in IPL 

 

It is testament to India's depth in T20i that he may not get into a second 11. If or when SKY sits out Iyer needs to replace him as no 4 and captain 

[StraightDrive26]

On 4/7/2026 at 6:10 AM, Ultimate_Game said:

 

Passenger in ICC tourneys. He's a bilateral king and a minnow basher. As soon as the ICC tourney kicks off and he comes up against better teams or bowling attacks he struggles. He has played 2021 WT20, 2022 WT20, 2023 ODI WC, 2024 WT20 and 2026 WT20 so far. That's 5 ICC tourneys and his best performance has been against USA in 2026 in a group stage.

 

In fact his biggest contribution has been Miller's catch. Other than that he has mostly played supporting role and never managed to win a match on his own the way Tilak, Ishan, Abhishek, Dube, Samson, Pandya, Axar have. Literally every batter in the team has outperformed him in ICC tourneys. Even Axar is more clutch and better performances with the bat than SKY.

 

SKY's stats are just like Chahal - great in bilaterals and meaningless games but when a big match rolls around you know what's gonna happen. Neither of them are gonna be much of a factor. The sooner India moves on from him and brings in Iyer, the better.

Yes Sky has struggled in ICC tourneys but he wasn't that bad in 2024 WC. He played some crucial innings in that tournament. Let's leave his 50 against USA, he did score a 53 of 27 against Afghanistan, 31 (16) against Australia, an important 47 (36) against England in the semi-final which was crucial after India had lost 2 wickets early on a very difficult pitch. But I agree that his performances overall in T20I WCs has been disappointing but again he did save us from an embarrassment against USA in the 2026 WC.

 

Rajat Patidar isn't the replacement India should be looking for a well as he is almost 33 and he will be replacing a 35 year old. This is the time to build a team for the next T20 WC and Patidar isn't going to make it to that. India need to invest on young players who are performing well in SMAT and IPL. The problem is that the players available and doing well are all top order batters. Jaiswal, Vaibhav, Ayush Mhathre etc. Also we are looking at a captaincy candidate and Iyer falls in that space quite well. I can't see Patidar being drafted into the T20I side as captain. As far as middle order bats are concerned none of them other than Shreyas Iyer pop up in terms of consistency in the format over the last few years.

[Ultimate_Game]

1 hour ago, StraightDrive26 said:

Yes Sky has struggled in ICC tourneys but he wasn't that bad in 2024 WC. He played some crucial innings in that tournament. Let's leave his 50 against USA, he did score a 53 of 27 against Afghanistan, 31 (16) against Australia, an important 47 (36) against England in the semi-final which was crucial after India had lost 2 wickets early on a very difficult pitch. But I agree that his performances overall in T20I WCs has been disappointing but again he did save us from an embarrassment against USA in the 2026 WC.

 

Rajat Patidar isn't the replacement India should be looking for a well as he is almost 33 and he will be replacing a 35 year old. This is the time to build a team for the next T20 WC and Patidar isn't going to make it to that. India need to invest on young players who are performing well in SMAT and IPL. The problem is that the players available and doing well are all top order batters. Jaiswal, Vaibhav, Ayush Mhathre etc. Also we are looking at a captaincy candidate and Iyer falls in that space quite well. I can't see Patidar being drafted into the T20I side as captain. As far as middle order bats are concerned none of them other than Shreyas Iyer pop up in terms of consistency in the format over the last few years.

 

Iyer is the replacement. Patidar is the 2nd choice for now but for the longer run he isn't an option due to his age. SKY has under-performed massively. His best knocks have been in the support role. The Aussie match in 2024 WT20 was all Rohit. His Eng knock was better but again Rohit had provided a great start. Till now SKY hasn't shown up even once as the main man. You can't carry on in the supporting role batting at 3 or 4. Literally every other batter has won the match on their own or made the difference except for SKY. Abhishek, Samson, Tilak, Rohit, Ishan, Dube, Pandya, Axar have all stood up and won the matches on their own. SKY is the only one whose best performance is just a support role and that too came more than 2 years ago. He has simply coasted along and carried by a stellar team. He's no different from Gill though a better captain.

[tapandrun]

On 4/8/2026 at 8:25 AM, singhvivek141 said:

Patidar is 32-33, he may have hit a purple patch but age isn't in his favour.

Better to invest on someone who is younger and play the same role

Think t20 as wc to wc, good 2-3 yrs of a top player is should be good enough , game is moving too fast. sr of 145 is looking ordinary now.

Edited 17 hours ago by tapandrun