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Follow UsThere’s no denying that Virat Kohli played the lead role in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s unbelievable late run to the playoffs of the Indian Premier League 2024, but without Rajat Patidar, there was a high possibility that they would have been knocked out of the tournament. The 30-year-old has been RCB’s biggest trump card in their six-match winning streak.
The Royal Challengers won only one of their first eight encounters and in those games, Patidar scored 161 runs at an average of 23 and a strike rate of 161. There were a couple of good knocks during that period but Patidar was far from his best. That hurt RCB, but everything turned upside down in the last six league games.
Patidar batted five times in these six matches, scoring 50 off 20, 2 off 3, 55 off 23, 52 off 32, and 41 off 23. The elegant right-hander smashed 200 runs at an average of 40 and an awe-inspiring strike rate of 198.
Kohli (329) and Will Jacks (215) did score more runs than Patidar in these last six games but none of them had a better strike rate than the batter from Madhya Pradesh. 147 of those 200 runs came in the middle overs (7-15), where he operated at a strike rate of 201.4. Patidar has bossed that phase like not many can.
Overall, Patidar has the best strike rate (185.3) in the middle overs among batters, with a minimum of 200 runs in this phase in this year’s IPL. His prowess in the middle overs, especially against spin, had taken everyone by surprise in the IPL 2022 and that’s exactly what Bengaluru missed in the last edition of IPL when he was ruled out of the tournament.
"I don't think I have that (fear of getting out) because if I did, I would not have batted so freely or couldn't have attacked from the get go. There should be no fear of getting out in T20s because there is less time. If you want to dominate, you have to go in with a free mind. If you want to execute something but are not confident and worried about getting out, then things won't go right,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Patidar as saying.
"As for my free mind, I try to keep ambiguity away when I am batting. If you are confident, and feel, 'I should go on this ball or take this bowler down', you should go for it. You cannot think, 'whether I should go for it or take a single.' So clarity is important. I also know my areas and what my strengths are, so I stick to that and execute that instead of trying something else."
Patidar entered this year’s IPL after a terrible debut Test series against England. The right-hander started the tournament with scores of 0 off 3, 18 off 18, 3 off 4 and 29 off 21 in his first four encounters. Then came that 50 off 26 against Mumbai Indians and Patidar hasn’t looked back since. He has four fifties and one 40-plus score in his last six innings.
One thing that has worked in Patidar’s favour is Faf du Plessis, Kohli, and Jacks being ultra-aggressive in the powerplay and a couple of them getting out early, allowing Patidar to take a few deliveries to settle in. And the results are right in front of everyone to see. Four of his five half-centuries this season have come when he has walked out to bat inside five overs.
The moment you start talking about Patidar, you have to talk about his game against spin. This season, he has scored 194 runs against spin at an average of 97 and a strike rate of 210.87. Only twice has he been dismissed by a spinner. Amongst batters who have scored at least 100 runs against spin in IPL 2024, only Abhishek Sharma (235.4) has a better SR than Patidar.
"I try to read spinners early from their hand and judge lengths early. I try and understand what the bowler wants to do or what shot he wants me to play to dismiss me, and I look to avoid that.
"You have more time in the top order, where you can rotate strike at the start before targeting someone. But in the middle order, there is a little less cushion, so you have to prepare from the outside, when you are padded up. You have to gauge what the surface is doing, what the bowler is doing, where you can play your shots etc. You don't have the time to take your time and then hit at the end."
The way he took down Mayank Markande in the two games against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Suyash Sharma against Kolkata Knight Riders was a sight to behold. No other batter has dealt with legspinners with so much disrespect than Patidar. The right-hander has 127 runs against them at a strike rate of 264.6 in this edition.
While Kohli has been scoring runs for fun, Patidar has played those game-changing knocks in the middle order. He has been the real game-changer for RCB. Even in the first eight games, Kohli was averaging 63.17, but what RCB were missing was the Patidar factor. That factor did turn up in the final six league games, where Kohli still averaged 65.8, and the rest is history.
RCB are now through to the playoffs and set to take on Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator in Ahmedabad on May 22 (Wednesday). Do you know what happened when Patidar last played in the Eliminator? He smoked 112* off 54 against Lucknow Super Giants in 2022 and the Royal Challengers would hope he does something similar against out-of-form Rajasthan.
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