Rajat Patidar Pulls Out of Rising Stars Asia Cup: Ayush Badoni In, Rinku Singh Named India A Vice-Captain

BCCI update: Patidar out, Badoni in

Rajat Patidar has withdrawn from the India A squad for the ACC Men's Rising Stars Asia Cup, the 50-over tournament in Doha, Qatar, from 19 to 29 November 2026. In a media advisory on 8 November, the BCCI said 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."

The men's selection committee has added Ayush Badoni to the squad in his place. Patidar was vice-captain, so Rinku Singh now becomes deputy to captain Tilak Varma. The BCCI did not say what Patidar's injuries are or when he might be available again for one-day cricket.

Why Badoni gets the call

Badoni has been one of the form batters of the domestic season. ESPNcricinfo reports that he hit back-to-back double-centuries for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy, against Gujarat and Jharkhand, and is the competition's second-highest run-scorer with 559 runs from six innings.

Patidar has been scoring heavily too. He has made two centuries in three Ranji Trophy games for Madhya Pradesh this season, and two half-centuries in three 50-over games for India A against Australia A at home in October. His decision is about managing his body in the longer format of white-ball cricket, not about form.

India A's updated Rising Stars Asia Cup squad

Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Tilak Varma (capt), Rinku Singh (vice-capt), Kumar Kushagra (wk), Suryansh Shedge, Shahbaz Ahmed, Vipraj Nigam, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Harshit Rana, Prince Yadav, Arshad Khan, Ayush Badoni.

A few things to know about this group:

• Harshit Rana returns. The 24-year-old fast-bowling allrounder has not played since July, when he was with the senior side in England.
• T20 power at the top. Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Prabhsimran Singh give India A plenty of attacking batting options.
• A deep spin group. Harsh Dubey, Vipraj Nigam, Shahbaz Ahmed and Tanush Kotian back up a pace attack of Rana, Prince Yadav, Arshad Khan and allrounder Suryansh Shedge.
• Tilak and Kushagra join later. Both are with the India A red-ball side in New Zealand and will link up after that tour.

Groups, India vs Pakistan date and knockouts

India A are in Group B with UAE, Nepal and Pakistan A. Group A has Bangladesh A, Sri Lanka A, Afghanistan A and Hong Kong, China. The top two from each group reach the semi-finals on 26 and 27 November, and the final is on 29 November.

The match most Indian fans will circle is India A vs Pakistan A on 22 November. Pakistan also beat India in the age-group game this weekend; see our report on Arjun Rajput's 107 and Hamza Zahoor's match-winning hundred at the U19 Asia Cup.

Background

The original squad and the thinking behind it are in our earlier piece on the India A Rising Stars Asia Cup squad. Tilak has also been batting in the red-ball game in Lincoln, where India A declared on 464 for 5 in the third unofficial Test; see our Yashasvi Jaiswal 102 report and the NZ A vs India A results page.

Sources: BCCI media advisory (8 Nov 2026, Devajit Saikia, Honorary Secretary); ESPNcricinfo (8 Nov 2026) for Badoni and Patidar domestic numbers, groups and fixture dates.