Rajat Patidar batted with brilliance in the IPL 2022 Eliminator.© BCCI/IPL
Royal Challengers Bangalore needed an innings of character, spunk and adventure to create an impact in the Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants at the hallowed turf of the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and it came from the blade of Rajat Patidar. The RCB number 3 produced a flurry of outrageously attacking strokes to make up for the failure of the big 3, Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell.
Patidar came in to bat with his team in a bit of a hole after losing its captain in the very first over. Virat Kohli at the other continued to be an unrecognisable shadow of his attacking self of the past, many have perhaps started recognising this new version of Kohli though; after what has been a jaded season for the star.
Patidar decided to break the shackles in the fifth over as he launched into Krunal Pandya, hitting the left-arm spinner for three fours and a six to bring up his team’s 50.
Even as batters like Kohli and Maxwell struggled at the other end, Patidar managed to get one boundary away almost every over to help his team keep pace.
His next ‘break out of jail’ over was the 16th one of RCB’s innings as he hit three sixes and two fours. The wily Ravi Bishnoi would have had his wicket, but Deepak Hooda dropped a relatively easy catch at the boundary on the third delivery of the over, which allowed Patidar to continue his rampage.
He was dropped again in the 18th over, a difficult catch in the third man region and Patidar made the most of it by slamming the next delivery for a massive six to reach his century in just 49 balls.
This Patidar’s first century in T20 cricket.
Promoted
He continued the onslaught in the company of Dinesh Karthik to take RCB to a massive total, 207/4, something the team had not managed in their losses at the same stage of the IPL in the last two seasons.
Patidar finished with an unbeaten 112 off just 54 deliveries.
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