Rajat Patidar speaks about his learnings from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

Top-order batter Rajat Patidar is part of Indian squad as Virat Kohli’s replacement.

Madhya Pradesh batter Rajat Patidar is likely to make his India test debut in the second test against England. Patidar was added to Indian squad as Virat Kohli’s replacement. Virat Kohli made himself unavailable for the first two test matches due to personal reasons. KL Rahul’s injury has opened a gate for Rajat Patidar in the Indian playing XI. Patidar is part of Royal Challengers Bangalore camp in the IPL and has played under Virat Kohli’s leadership in the IPL.

Now, Rajat Patidar is likely to get an opportunity to make his test debut under Rohit Sharma’s leadership. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are two of India’s finest leaders and comparisons have always been drawn between the both. Indian top-order batter Rajat Patidar has opened up about the differences between the two as leaders. Rohit Sharma replaced Virat Kohli as captain of Indian team.

Rajat Patidar talks about Rohit and Virat

Talking about the difference between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Patidar said that he tried to observe how both payers react to a certain situation. Rajat added, “I study the pattern of opponent bowlers, how they place their field. I observe how Rohit bhai tackles the field position. I try to add-on these learnings into my own game… I always observe his (Virat Kohli) batting from the back of the nets especially his footwork and body movement while batting. I enjoy watching him bat. I want to add-on those skills. It’s not easy but I am relentlessly after it.

The 30-year-old batter revealed that he has been interacting with coach Rahul Dravid during the ongoing test series. Patidar said, “Have played with many Indian team players in the domestic circuit. Have been interacting with Rahul Sir since last two series, I had not spoken a lot with Rohit bhai but I got to speak with him on this tour about batting, he shared his experience in the nets. All this has increased my confidence.”

Rajat Patidar got injured ahead of the IPL 2023 and had to miss the entire season for RCB. Talking about that period, Patidar said, “It is always hard when a player gets injured, I always told myself I cannot change the time it will take to recover. I accepted this fact and worked in the present with a lot of focus. Getting my first Test call up soon after my recovery has to be my happiest moment. It was my dream to represent my country in Test cricket.” Rajat Patidar has played 55 First class games and scored 4000 runs at an average of 45.97 with 12 centuries.

Watch the video here:

Bouncing back after injury 👏Emotions on maiden Test call-up ✨Learnings from Captain @ImRo45 & @imVkohli 🙌In conversation with @rrjjt_01 ahead of the 2nd #INDvENG Test 👌👌#TeamIndia | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/KU4FRyUuW2

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 1, 2024

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