Rajat Patidar replaces Virat Kohli in Indian squad for first two Tests against England

Rajat Patidar has been confirmed as the replacement of Virat Kohli, who has opted out of the first two Tests against England. The batter from MP will be joining the Indian squad in Hyderabad soon before the start of the first Test. The move from the Indian board has come as Virat had to miss out on the first two Tests of the series due to personal reasons.

The Indian Cricket Board confirmed the fact that Virat would be missing the Test matches at Hyderabad and Vizag with its press release. Virat did not even take part in the Ram Mandir inaugural ceremony due to a family emergency. Hence, there were talks regarding the players who could replace the star batter in the Indian squad for the first two Test matches.

Three main options were pointed out as replacements for Virat. One of them was Rajat himself and the other two were Sarfaraz Khan and Cheteshwar Pujara. All three had done enough to claim a spot in the squad. While Sarfaraz has been scoring a truckload of runs in domestic cricket over the years, Pujara has the experience and form on his side.

Rajat Patidar’s terrific current form

But Patidar was an obvious pick due to his numbers in the recently concluded unofficial practice matches against the England Lions. In the first match, Patidar registered a good hundred, as he scored an aggressive 111 on the first day. His knock in the unofficial Test was even better, where he singlehandedly rescued India A from a collapse and scored 141 runs from his blade.

The way Patidar plays spin has been appreciated by the selectors and the critics. It has been the prime reason behind him getting selected. Patidar is more aggressive than Pujara and fitter than Sarfaraz. It is probably the reason why Patidar has ticked all the boxes. Rajat can also bat in any position from opening to number 4. Hence, the talented batter is being picked to be in the squad for the first two Tests against England.