RCB Player Advocates for India Comeback With First Double…

Ranji Trophy: RCB Batter, Rajat Patidar, Secures Maiden First-Class Double Hundred Calling for India Recall

Indore witnessed Madhya Pradesh captain Rajat Patidar’s majestic shakeup of the scoreboard with a maiden first-class double hundred against Punjab in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy. This performance has greatly boosted his chances for a national recall and a place in the middle order. Rajat Patidar’s double century came in the nick of time when the selectors are set to pick the Indian team for the two-Test home series against South Africa. The right-handed batsman’s innings consisted of 26 boundaries and took him 328 balls to complete.

His performance significantly transformed Madhya Pradesh’s position in their Ranji Trophy match against Punjab, pushing the team’s score to 519 for eight before rain intervened. In attendance was RP Singh, the former Indian left-arm fast bowler, who is freshly appointed as a national selector. Patidar outperformed his previous first-class score of 196 runs, registered against Tamil Nadu in the 2018 Ranji season.

Walking in with the burden of a four-wicket deficit in the team, Patidar, alongside Venkatesh Iyer (73), added a firm 147 runs to rebalance the innings, putting his team in a more comfortable position.

Patidar certainly isn’t new to stellar performances in 2025. Over the last eight innings, the MP batsman has collected three hundreds and equal fifties, having accumulated a staggering 663 runs overall.

Earlier this very year, he had successfully spearheaded the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team to their first-ever IPL victory. He also led Central Zone to claim their first Duleep Trophy win in ten years, during which he registered two centuries and a total of four consecutive 50-plus scores.

Patidar has also bounced back from a discouraging Test debut last season, where he managed just 63 runs in three Tests. This Ranji season, he topped Madhya Pradesh’s run-scorers’ list with 529 runs, securing one century and two half-centuries.

He has made a name and a place for himself in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy while maintaining his batting consistency. Remarkably, he has scored 5196 runs in 73 first-class matches with an average of 44.41, comprising 16 hundreds. Although he was considered for India’s tour of England this summer but had to withdraw due to an injury.