“Rajat Patidar must be considered as captain”: Former India star questions selectors

Former India opener Sadagoppan Ramesh has questioned the team management over the omission of Rajat Patidar from India’s upcoming squads. Ramesh expressed disappointment that Patidar was overlooked and said the batter deserves an opportunity in the national T20I setup after his recent performances.

Team India will begin their white-ball tour of the UK with a two-match T20I series against Ireland in Belfast on June 26 and June 28. The selectors have announced a 15-member squad for the Ireland and England tours. They have also named India’s squad for the 2026 Asian Games, which will be held later this year.

Sadagoppan Ramesh Questions Rajat Patidar’s Omission From India Squads

Sadagoppan Ramesh questioned the selectors over Rajat Patidar’s absence from India’s T20I and Asian Games squads. Ramesh said Patidar deserves an opportunity at the international level and believes his recent performances should have earned him a place in one of the squads.

“Shreyas Iyer has been made the T20I captain based on his IPL showing. But that raises the question on why there is no one in the T20I side from the two-time defending champions RCB. It is high time Rajat Patidar at least gets a look in as a player in the T20I squad. If not, at least for the India A tours, Patidar must be considered as captain,” Ramesh said on his Instagram handle.

Patidar led Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to their second consecutive title. The right-handed batter scored 501 runs in 15 matches at an average of 42.00 and a strike rate of 192.69.

However, Patidar was not selected for either the senior T20I squad or India’s squad for the 2026 Asian Games. The 32-year-old has previously played three Tests and one ODI for India but is yet to make his T20I debut.

Giving Sai Opportunities Is Great, but Padikkal Should Be Given Just as Much – Sadagoppan Ramesh

Sadagoppan Ramesh believes Devdutt Padikkal has not received the same opportunities as Sai Sudharsan at the international level. He said both players deserve equal backing, and they have been handled differently by the team management.

“Giving Sai opportunities is great, but Padikkal should be given just as much. Gambhir justified favoring Sai over Padikkal by saying Sai had limited chances in England, with the conditions in England being tough. But Sai actually played 6 out of the 10 innings in England. Meanwhile, when Padikkal last played in Australia, he got only two out of 10 innings.”

India head coach Gautam Gambhir preferred Sai Sudharsan for the No. 3 position in the Test side. Although Padikkal was included in India’s squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, he did not make the playing XI.

Sai made the most of his opportunity in India’s innings-and-300-run victory over Afghanistan. Batting at No. 3, he scored 81 runs off 104 balls. Padikkal has not played a Test match since 2024.

So It Is Clear Padikkal Has Also Played in Tougher Conditions Than Sai – Sadagoppan Ramesh

Sadagoppan Ramesh said that Devdutt Padikkal has received fewer opportunities and has played in more challenging conditions during his limited chances at the international level.

“So it is clear Padikkal has got lesser opportunities compared to Sai. Gambhir’s next point for favoring Sai was the tougher conditions in England. Yet, India’s average score in the England series was 381 with 12 individual centuries. But in the Australia series, India’s average score was only 213 with just three centuries. So it is clear Padikkal has also played in tougher conditions than Sai.”

Padikkal scored 65 runs off 103 balls at No. 4 against England in Dharamsala on March 7, 2024. His most recent Test appearance came against Australia in Perth in November 2024, where he scored 25 runs in two innings.