Rajat Patidar made his first-class debut in 2015. Since then, he has battled injuries and scored 4,000 runs in the format at an average of 45.97. On February 2 in Visakhapatnam, Patidar made his Test debut against England in the absence of key players. The Madhya Pradesh batter could not score big in his debut knock but looked positive during his 72-ball 32. He even employed the reverse sweep. After the day’s play, Patidar revealed that he was not feeling any pressure when he walked out to bat.
"It was a dream come true moment for me. Representing the country is a dream for every player. Going into the middle, there was no pressure as I have played lot of games in domestic cricket. I slept well last night. It was normal for me," Patidar told the reporters after the day’s play.
The 30-year-old said that scoring two centuries for India A and England Lions gave him confidence.
“I have also played two series at the A level (NZ and England). It gives a lot of confidence when you play at that level. I gained in confidence playing against Lions (recently). The two hundreds against Lions were very crucial for me.”
Patidar used humour when asked about the wait to play Test cricket.
"Waiting for so long is common in Indian cricket (laughs). There are lot of players. I was just focusing on things that are in my hands. So at the age of 30, I came here, feeling pretty good," he said.
Patidar came out to bat at no.5 in the second session. He shared a 70-run partnership for the fourth wicket with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal who remained unbeaten for 179 at the end of day’s play.
"We (Yashasvi and I) were talking about taking the game as long as possible. My innings, it was good but I have to make it big. Talking about Yashavi, he is a very good player. The way he takes on the bowlers, he has special ability in him." Patidar said: "The wicket is really good to bat on. We will try to bat as long as we can."
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