Rajat Patidar was not in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s first squad earlier this year. The right-hander from Indore went unsold at his base price of ₹20 lakh in the February auctions. However, an injury to Karnataka’s Luvnith Sisodia created an opening for Patidar, who was acquired at his base price after the second match of the season. Since then Patidar has not only been with the RCB squad but is also a key member of the batting line-up at No. 3.
On Wednesday, the 28-year-old scored an outstanding hundred in the IPL Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants in Kolkata, a 54-ball 112 not out with a dozen fours and seven sixes to steer Royal Challengers Bangalore to a winning total of 207 for four.
Patidar has made a good account of himself in the five innings he played in the league phase including scores of 52 and 48 being his best IPL scores in his second season with RCB. Growing in confidence with every outing, he scored a dream hundred on Wednesday, becoming only the fifth player in IPL history to score a century in the Play Offs after Murali Vijay (2012), Virender Sehwag (2014), Wriddhiman Saha (2014) and Shane Watson (2018).
Even as Patidar ran out of partners of the likes of Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell, he went about playing his strokes, clearing the Eden Gardens boundary ropes with ease while picking the gaps for fours. He shared a vital 92 unseparated runs for the fifth wicket with the experienced Dinesh Karthik to take RCB to a total beyond LSG’s reach.
Patidar had never scored a T20 hundred before. His highest score in 37 previous T20s was 96 for Madhya Pradesh against Goa in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in January 2021. Patidar was straightaway into the act after joining Kohli in the first over following a first-ball ‘duck’ for skipper Faf du Plessis. Kohli was happy to play second fiddle as the younger batsman went after the LSG bowlers. The two raised 66 in 46 balls for the second wicket, Patidar’s contribution being 43, driving over the in-field on either side, pulling anything short over mid-wicket and into the packed stands.
Patidar, though, had luck on his side. On 59, a top-edge off Krunal Pandya escaped the outstretched hands of a diving Mohsin Khan at short third man in the 13th over. On 72 off Ravi Bishnoi, he was dropped by Deepak Hooda at deep mid-wicket in the 16th over, an over in which he alone plundered 26 runs, the sequence reading 6, 4, 6, 4, 6 including that drop that went to the boundary after Karthik took a single off the first ball.
Again, on 93, Patidar was floored by Manan Vohra off the only best LSG bowler on the day, Mohsin Khan (1 for 25) in the 18th over, though it was a tough chance. Vohra running backwards from point had quite a distance to cover before he could have his hand at the skier.
He shook off these jitters by smashing Mohsin over mid-wicket for a six to reach his maiden T20 century in the same over. It was a remarkable innings from the little-known Patidar, who not only batted almost the entire innings to take them to a massive total but also notching up a sensational century that could even take his team all the way to the title in the coming days.
For that, RCB have to win over Rajasthan Royals on Friday in Qualifier 2 and then Gujarat Titans in the Final on Sunday, both in Ahmedabad. Patidar will have a lead role to play in his team’s fortunes.
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