India batsman Rajat Patidar has failed once again. In his third Test, against England in Ranchi, the 30-year-old finally got off the blocks in a decent manner, and scored 17 runs hitting four boundaries, but all his hard work was undone, after he was dismissed by off-spinner Shoaib Bashir.
Without any doubt Patidar is a promising prospect for India, and that’s why is the team as well, but somehow it doesn’t make sense to send him ahead of Sarfaraz Khan, who had shown in the previous Test, that he can handle the English spinners well, by scoring twin fifties on debut.
Plus, he is mighty high on confidence, with truckloads of runs behind him in domestic cricket, having scored heavily in the India A series vs England Lions as well.
Happened in Rajkot & now, Ranchi
In 5 innings Patidar has scored only 63 runs, at an average of 12.60, with 32 as his highest. In third Test also, he batted ahead of Sarfaraz Khan, and his scores of 5 & 0 at no. 4 only put extra pressure on the Indians. Similar is the case here, where India lost three wickets quickly, all to Shoaib Bashir, with the team reeling at 131/4, at one stage.
His early departure meant, it put extra pressure on Ravindra Jadeja as well, as he too was dismissed cheaply, with Sarfaraz left to do the clean up job.
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