His maiden tryst with international cricket did not yield the desired results, but IPL-winning skipper Rajat Patidar may soon get a second chance to don the national colours, hoped his childhood coach Amay Khurasiya.
Patidar, who was drafted in by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) as a replacement for the injured Luvnith Sisodia in 2022, guided the side to their first ever IPL trophy in 18 years.
However, the 32-year-old right-hand batter from Madhya Pradesh has been out of national reckoning after a string of low scores in a three-match Test series against England at home in 2024. He has also appeared in an ODI in South Africa in December 2023.
"Rajat has proven himself. He deserves a place in the Indian team at least in the shorter (ODI and T20) formats. His presence in the team will strengthen the middle-order of the team. He has been performing consistently in the IPL. It's up to the selectors now and they should reward his good show in the league with a recall to the national side," Khurasiya, who has played 12 ODIs, said.
Khurasiya said the burning desire to succeed and the leadership qualities make the diminutive Patidar stand out in a pack.
"When RCB made him the captain, I had told many that that this team would do something different this season. Patidar might look very calm from outside but is like a volcano of talent ready to erupt. He has a lot of will to achieve success by taking everyone along."
"Patience and taking the right decision at the right time are two important qualities of a successful leader and Patidar possesses both these traits.
Apart from performing with the willow - Patidar scored 312 runs in 15 matches including two half-centuries - he came up with some impressive tactical moves throughout the season.
He led RCB in 13 matches in IPL 2025, winning 10 of them.
Patidar belongs to the golden batch of MP's cricketers, who trained under Khurasiya at the state cricket academy during their junior days. His batchmates include Venkatesh Iyer, Avesh Khan, Ashutosh Sharma and Kuldeep Sen among others.
"When Rajat was a teenager, he attended many camps under my guidance at the MPCA. Even at that time, he was a versatile batter. He was calm, patient and never shied away from hard work. Even then, he had the desire to make it big in the game."
"We worked on technical aspects of his batting. His determination and dedication were exemplary. He worked harder on his game than we did," said Khurasiya, who currently serves as the head coach Kerala.
Under the guidance of Khurasiya, Kerala reached the Ranji Trophy final last season, a first for the state in 74 years.
"I'm extremely proud of Kerala's achievement because there were no big stars in that team," he added.
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