Badoni made 217 and 210 not out in successive Ranji games, and Patidar’s withdrawal has put him in India A’s squad
Rajat Patidar has asked not to be considered for 50-over cricket while he manages his injuries, so Ayush Badoni goes to the Rising Stars Asia Cup and Rinku Singh becomes vice-captain.
Nov 9, 2026
Rajat Patidar will not go to Doha with India A. He has told the BCCI not to consider him for 50-over cricket while he manages his injuries, and Ayush Badoni takes his place in the squad for the ACC Rising Stars Asia Cup, which starts on 19 November.
The board announced the change on Sunday, 8 November. “Rajat Patidar has communicated to the BCCI that he should not be considered for selection in the 50-over format as he manages his existing injuries,” its statement said. “Accordingly, he has been withdrawn from the India A squad for the ACC Rising Stars Asia Cup.”
Patidar had been Tilak Varma’s vice-captain. Rinku Singh now has that job.
An odd time to step back
On the face of it, Patidar is in excellent form. He captains Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy and made 122 against Puducherry, then followed it with another hundred against Bihar at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. In May he led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their second IPL title in a row.
So the wording of the statement matters. Patidar has not pulled out of cricket, only out of 50-over selection. The BCCI has said nothing about what the injuries are, so this is a guess, but it reads like a player deciding where to spend a body that needs managing, with another IPL season to come. I can’t blame him. I’d still have liked to see him bat in Doha.
Badoni earns his place
Badoni was left out when the squad was first named, and he could fairly have felt hard done by. He made 217 against Gujarat at the Palam ground, then 210 not out against Jharkhand in Delhi’s next match. Only two Delhi batters had made double hundreds in consecutive first-class games before him: Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli.
He also suits a 50-over squad that leans heavily on T20 hitters. Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Prabhsimran Singh will look to go hard from ball one. A middle-order batter who has just made two double hundreds in a row gives Tilak someone who can bat for a long time if the top order goes early.
India A’s group
India A are in Group B with Nepal, the UAE and Pakistan A. They start against Nepal at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium in Doha on 20 November and play Pakistan A on 22 November. The top two in each group reach the semi-finals on 26 and 27 November, and the final is on 29 November.
The updated squad: Tilak Varma (captain), Rinku Singh (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Prabhsimran Singh, Kumar Kushagra, Suryansh Shedge, Shahbaz Ahmed, Vipraj Nigam, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Harshit Rana, Prince Yadav, Arshad Khan, Ayush Badoni.