His half-century put Central Zone in the drivers' seat against North East Zone.
Madhya Pradesh batter Rajat Patidar made a case for a possible India Test recall with a half-century for Central Zone in their Duleep Trophy quarter-final against North East Zone in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Patidar scored 66 runs from 72 balls, hitting six fours and three sixes in the process. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain walked out to bat at No.5, when Central Zone were 48/3 after having lost Harsh Dubey. His knock also comes in the aftermath of a century that he scored in the first innings of the quarter-final. Patidar had scored 125 runs from 96 balls in the first innings to help Central Zone post a total of 532/4.
Patidar then forged a 122-run partnership with Shubham Sharma, who was batting at 82 at the time of writing this report. The 32-year-old cricketer has played three Tests for India since making his debut against England during a home series in February 2024.
All three of his Tests, though, came in that series. In six innings, the Indore-born cricketer has aggregated just 63 runs at an average of 10.50.
As far his first-class career is concerned, Patidar has played 68 first-class matches and has scored 4738 runs at an average of 43.07. This includes 24 half-centuries and 13 centuries.
The Indian Test team is currently undergoing a transition following the retirements of Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
New captain Shubman Gill recently led a new-look Indian team to a 2-2 draw against England in a five-match Test series in England. Top-order batters Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan endured mixed outings with the bat in England. And Patidar’s knock is a timely reminder to the Team India selectors of what he brings to the table.
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Should he continue to maintain this level of consistency, it won’t be long before the right-handed batter returns to the Indian Test team once again.
Coming to the Duleep Trophy quarter-final, Central Zone were in the drivers’ seat on Day three of their clash against North East Zone.
Central Zone, who had declared at 532/4 in the first innings, were 200/4 in the second innings, with a lead of 547. North East Zone were dismissed for just 185 in their first innings.
