Rajat Patidar has emerged as one of the biggest talking points of IPL 2026 after his breathtaking innings for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Qualifier 1 against the Gujarat Titans. The stylish batter was awarded a hard-fought 93 on 33 off with no one equal to his scoring and put RCB on a huge 254-run run at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, and people are asking for his selection in the T20I squad for India.
The remaining three matches before the conclusion of IPL 2026 have started getting everybody’s attention on international assignments for India. The BCCI has announced the Team for the Test series and the ODI series, but the T20I series has not been decided, particularly after a new T20 World Cup cycle is also imminent, and cricket has already come back to the Olympics.
Patidar’s spectacular knock now has his name surely in candidates’ discourse for the national selection process. Soon after the match, former India batter Aakash Chopra publicly supported the RCB stalwart for India in the T20 format.
“Rajat Patidar needs to be playing T20Is for India in the near future: Chopra commented on social media.
It was Ambati Rayudu, Mr. India, who took it one step further and opined that Patidar could be regarded as one of the must-have comeback partners for the creator of India’s future T20 team.
I believe there are 2, 3 guys whose names I would definitely start off with, and he’s one of them, Rayudu said when asked about his top choices.
Patidar also strongly recommended that the role of Suryakumar Yadav in India’s middle order in T20I cricket be filled by Rayudu at least in the future.
This season has been Patidar’s best IPL season so far. He has now crossed 400 and has grabbed 486 runs post his Qualifier 1 masterclass for the first time in his career. The tournament was pitched by leading order bowlers, and Patidar is one of the few middle-order batsmen who have shot their way through the leading order, among others.
Patar’s offensive ability, consistent performance, and dominance over quality bowling under pressure have been impressing and he’s well on his way to the much-awaited India T20I.