Rajat Patidar out of India A’s Rising Stars Asia Cup squad; Rinku Singh is Tilak Varma’s new deputy, Ayush Badoni called up

Rajat Patidar will miss the Rising Stars Asia Cup in Doha. The BCCI withdrew him from India A’s squad on Sunday, 8 November after he asked the board to leave him out of 50-over selection while he deals with injuries he is already carrying, the board said in a media advisory.

The Men’s Selection Committee moved Rinku Singh up to vice-captain and called up Ayush Badoni as the replacement, so the squad stays at 15 players. Tilak Varma, the Hyderabad batter, stays on as captain.

Patidar had been picked as Tilak’s deputy on Monday, 2 November, when the BCCI first named the squad. The Madhya Pradesh batter is the IPL captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru and led them to the 2025 title. The advisory did not name his injuries or say how long he will stay away from 50-over cricket.

Badoni comes in

Badoni, the Delhi batter, takes the place left open. Rinku, the Uttar Pradesh left-hander, was already among the 15 and now takes over the vice-captaincy.

Nobody else changes. Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi remain at the top of the list, with Prabhsimran Singh and Kumar Kushagra sharing the wicketkeeping. The all-round options are Suryansh Shedge, Shahbaz Ahmed, Vipraj Nigam, Harsh Dubey and Tanush Kotian, while Harshit Rana, Prince Yadav and Arshad Khan carry the pace bowling.

Fifty overs in Doha

Matches at the 2026 edition are 50 overs a side; the 2025 tournament was played as a T20 event. Nepal, Pakistan A and the UAE make up the rest of India A’s group. The first game is against Nepal on Friday, 20 November, followed by Pakistan A on Sunday, 22 November, both at the West End Park International Stadium. The group stage closes with the UAE on Tuesday, 24 November at the University of Doha for Science and Technology.

Tilak and Kushagra have one more job in New Zealand first. Both are in the India squad that Shreyas Iyer leads for the fourth and fifth ODIs at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on 13 and 15 November. In Doha, each group sends its top two to the semi-finals on Thursday, 26 November and Friday, 27 November, and the title will be decided on Sunday, 29 November.