RCB’s Rajat Patidar gives up hopes on making T20I comeback despite stellar IPL 2026 season

Despite having a prolific record in the shortest format of the game over the last few years, Rajat Patidar is yet to earn his maiden T20I call-up. The RCB captain has featured in 56 games in the cash-rich league in which he has amassed 1597 runs at an average of 33.97. The MP batter has seen a meteoric rise in the last two years, performing exceptionally well in both domestic cricket and in the IPL, and emerging as one of the best players of spin. However, Patidar has admitted that he has no aspirations to make it to the T20I side.

Patidar unbothered about India call-up

Speaking to reporters ahead of the GT vs RCB, IPL 2026 final, Patidar said that he wasn’t looking forward to earning a maiden T20I call-up for the series against Ireland and England later this year. The RCB captain categorically maintained that his focus remains on guiding the team to the second and consecutive IPL title on May 31.

“No, I am not looking forward to the possibility of getting selected for those tours [in June and July],” Patidar said.

Talking about Rajat’s performance, he has scored 486 runs from 13 innings in IPL 2026. He averages 44.18, at a strike rate of 196.76, and has struck five fifties, 41 sixes and 29 fours in this season. This is Patidar’s best IPL season since his debut.

Patidar has grown leaps and bounds in the shortest format of the game. After being named as an injury replacement in RCB in 2022, Rajat took over the reins of the team in 2024 from Faf du Plessis. In his very first IPL season as captain, Patidar led the team to their maiden IPL trophy, ending an 18-year-wait. Now, he has once again powered RCB to the final in IPL 2026.

“I don’t think about these things. Who has done what before me, I am not competing with anyone. I live in the moment. I am only focusing on tomorrow’s game” he said.

Patidar bats at number 4 for RCB in the IPL at present. When it comes to T20Is, there are too many players vying for that position, including Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav. Despite prolific performance in IPL 2026, it will take a lot of luck, convincing of the selectors and perhaps more phenomenal performances for Patidar to earn his spot in the Indian T20I setup.

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