INDORE: Making a strong case for a national recall and a berth in the middle order when the selectors meet to pick the Indian team for the two-Test home series against South Africa, Madhya Pradesh captain Rajat Patidar — recently appointed skipper across formats — scored his maiden first-class double hundred against Punjab in their Ranji Trophy 2025-26 match at the Emerald Heights International School Ground here on Friday.Interestingly, Patidar’s double hundred, which came off 328 balls and included 26 fours, and took Punjab to 519 for eight before rain stopped play, was witnessed by newly-appointed national selector RP Singh, the former India left-arm pacer. Patidar is now set to be picked for the two-Test series against South Africa A, beginning at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru from October 30.Patidar thus bettered his previous best first-class score of 196, which he had scored against Tamil Nadu in the 2018 Ranji season. The 32-year-old batter walked in to bat at No. 5 with his side reeling at 155 for four in response to Punjab’s first-innings total of 232.The seasoned middle-order batter then joined forces with Venkatesh Iyer (73) as the duo added 147 runs to steady the innings and help MP gain the crucial first-innings lead.The double ton marked another fine chapter in Patidar’s stellar run in 2025. In blazing form this season, the MP batter has notched up three hundreds and as many fifties in his last eight innings, amassing 663 runs in this phase.Earlier this year, he had led Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to their maiden IPL title and then captained Central Zone to its first Duleep Trophy win in a decade. In the Duleep Trophy, he recorded four consecutive 50-plus scores, including two centuries in the quarterfinal and final (against South Zone).After a disappointing debut Test series against England in February 2024 — when he managed just 63 runs in three Tests at an average of 10.50 — Patidar bounced back strongly in the last Ranji Trophy season. He was MP’s top run-scorer with 529 runs at an average of 48.09, including one century and two fifties. He also led MP to the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy while performing consistently with the bat.Overall, Patidar has scored 5,196 runs in 73 first-class matches at an average of 44.41, with 16 hundreds. He was also in contention for India’s tour of England this summer but missed out due to injury.
