‘Didn’t feel any pressure going into the middle’

Visakhapatnam: Years of toil on the domestic circuit made Rajat Patidar fully equipped for his red-ball India debut and day one of the second Test against England was just another “normal” day in the life of the 30-year-old late bloomer.

Patidar, who made his first-class debut with Madhya Pradesh way back in 2015, knew that he was going to be part of the playing eleven a day before the game.

Having recently scored back-to-back hundreds against England Lions for India A, Patidar went into the big game high on confidence.

He looked assured in his 72-ball 32 and one of his three boundaries came via a reverse sweep.