Gambhir va en contra de "sus propios criterios internos" ya que Rajat Patidar no logra encontrar su lugar en los IND y ENG T20I.

A pesar de ser el segundo mejor corredor en el Trofeo Syed Mushtaq Ali, Rajat Patidar no logró encontrar su lugar en los IND – ENG T20I.

The trend of ignoring performers in domestic cricket for selection in India cricket team continues, with Rajat Patidar becoming the latest victim. Despite being the 2nd highest run-getter in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024, the RCB star was ignored in India’s squad for IND vs ENG T20Is. Patidar’s exclusion has quite literally exposed head coach Gautam Gambhir’s hypocrisy, especially after he directed all players to play domestic cricket in order to earn a spot in the side.

Rajat Patidar ignored despite SMAT heroics

Patidar was arguably in the form of his life in SMAT, finishing with 428 runs from 10 matches. Averaging 61.14, the batter smashed five half-centuries in the tournament. He was Madhya Pradesh’s top run-scorer, leading the charts with rest of his teammates falling behind by a huge margin. He played the role of a lone warrior on countless occasions for MP in the tourney, taking on the role of finishing the games or guiding the side to a respectable total when the rest of the batting order faltered.

Mat	Runs	Ave	SR	100s	50s
75	2463	38.48	158.18	1	24

Rajat Patidar T20 stats

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The trend of ignoring domestic performers for selection in the national side has been a long standing issue. It has been called out repeatedly but it looks like IPL is the only platform based on which selections are made. Meanwhile, those performing in SMAT and VHT are hardly given opportunities in the Indian team. If one thought that this trend would change with Gambhir taking over the reins, it has not. While both the selectors and the team management are hell bent on all players participating in domestic cricket compulsorily, hardly any cricketer has reaped the reward for doing so in recent times.

“I would always like everyone to play domestic cricket. That is how much importance domestic cricket needs to be given. Not only one game. Everyone should play domestic cricket. As simple as it can get. If you don’t give importance to domestic cricket, you will never get the desired players that you want,” Gambhir had said after IND vs AUS Test series.