Rajat Patidar vs Devdutt Padikkal: Decoding their First-Class stats
Rajat Patidar has made a paltry start to his Test career as his place in the Indian XI for the fifth and final Test against England in Dharamsala is under the scanner. Many reckon the uncapped Devdutt Padikkal, who made his bat talk in the 2024 Ranji Trophy, should replace the Madhya Pradesh batter for the final game. Here we compare their First-Class stats.
Patidar's poor run in the series
Patidar made his Test debut in the second match in Vizag, taking KL Rahul's number-four position. Though the Madhya Pradesh batter impressed with a fluent 32 in his maiden Test innings, 9, 5, 0, 17, and 0 were his scores thereafter. Owing to the same, many want the team management to drop Patidar for the series finale and hand Padikkal a debut.
Padikkal rewarded for his Ranji run
Padikkal received his maiden Test call-up ahead of the third game in Rajkot. He replaced the injured Rahul in the squad. The left-handed Karnataka batter racked up 556 runs from six innings at an incredible average of 92.66 in the 2024 Ranji Trophy season. His tally includes three tons, with 193 being his highest score.
Three tons for Padikkal in the 2024 Ranji Trophy campaign
Padikkal started the 2024 Ranji Trophy campaign with a fine 193 against Punjab. Notably, it is his highest score in red-ball cricket. In the match against Gujarat, he returned with scores of 42 and 31. He got starts but couldn't convert them into big scores. He scored a 103 against Goa in the following game followed by a 151 against Tamil Nadu.
Patidar impressed against England A
Patidar impressed the selectors with a couple of fine centuries for India A against England Lions in January this year. While he scored a brilliant 141-ball 111 in the tour match, Patidar hammered a brilliant 151 off 158 balls in the unofficial Test. It was indeed an innings of character from Patidar as none of his teammates could touch the 25-run mark.
Over 4,000 FC runs for Patidar
Patidar has smashed 4,063 runs in 58 First-Class games with his average being 43.68. The tally includes 12 tons and 22 fifties with 196 being his best score. The 30-year-old, who represents Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket, made his international debut in December 2023 and scored a 16-ball 22 in his only ODI outing, against South Africa.
A look at Padikkal's exceptional First-Class numbers
Having played 31 First-Class matches, Padikkal has amassed 2,227 runs at an average of 44.54. In addition to hammering six centuries, he also owns 12 fifties in this format. As mentioned, his highest score of 193 came against Punjab this season. He also scored a hundred and a fifty in between for India A. Notably, Padikkal has played a couple of T20Is for India.
Author's verdict: Padikkal should get a go in Dharamsala
The Dharamsala track can be expected to favor pacers. As Padikkal has batted in the top three for the majority of his FC career, he has the experience of tackling the swinging red cherry. Moreover, his addition would mean India will have a left-handed batter in the middle order. Hence, the team management has many reasons to give the technically-sound Padikkal a go.