India's legendary spinner Harbhajan Singh has slammed the national selectors for ignoring Rajat Patidar while picking India's squad for the upcoming T20I series against Ireland and England, despite leading Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to the IPL title for the second successive time.
Harbhajan Singh lambasts selectors for ignoring Rajat Patidar
The BCCI named India's squad for the upcoming T20I series against Ireland and England, where some changes were made with Shreyas Iyer replacing Suryakumar Yadav as the captain of the side and the teen sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi getting his maiden senior India call-up. Notably, Tilak Varma has been named as the vice-captain.
Soon after the squad was announced, Harbhajan shared a post on his official X account, where he criticised the selectors for not picking a talented batter like Rajat. According to the former India spinner, Rajat is currently the best middle-order batter in India with a solid technique.
"Sad no Rajat Patidar in the Indian squad. What else he needs to do? Scored 501 runs, strike rate almost 200. Unfair 💔 @rrjjt_01 Easily the best middle order in India. Proper striker with good technique," wrote Harbhajan in the post.
Rajat Patidar's solid IPL 2026 campaign
Other than getting success as RCB's skipper, Rajat Patidar enjoyed a fantastic individual campaign as well, amassing 501 runs in just 15 matches at an average of 41.75 with a strike rate of 192.69. The right-handed batter smashed five half-centuries in the tournament, with unbeaten 93 being his top score which came against Gujarat Titans.