Rajat Patidar: Madhya Pradesh’s ‘Hanuman’ delivers for RCB

Written by Devendra PandeyUpdated: May 27, 2022 5:40:03 pm

“Rajat sankat-mochan hai hamare team ka [Rajat is the problem-solver (another name for Lord Hanuman) of our team]. He has played such kind of innings before but as none came on TV, people didn’t know about him earlier. Now that he has scored (on Wednesday night), he has certainly become the Hanuman of RCB,” Ishwar Pandey, the veteran fast bowler, tells The Indian Express about his Madhya Pradesh team-mate.

Patidar has been playing on the domestic circuit for MP since 2015 and has rescued his team from precarious situations several times in the past. But having played four games for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League 2021, he had gone unsold in this year’s auction.

Also Read |Rajat Patidar’s unbeaten 112 off 54, Harshal Patel’s clever bowling take Bengaluru to the Qualifier 2

A month after the auction, in March, Patidar got a call from RCB head coach Sanjay Bangar, who told him that the franchise was interested in bringing him on board as a replacement player. So Patidar was back at the franchise again, in place of the injured Luvnith Sisodia. And on Wednesday, he was trending on social media after cracking a thunderous unbeaten 112 off only 54 deliveries in the Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants in front of a packed Eden Gardens.

1⃣1⃣2⃣* Runs 5⃣4⃣ Balls 1⃣2⃣ Fours 7⃣ Sixes

Recap the Rajat Patidar batting brilliance & the fastest hundred of the #TATAIPL 2022. 🔝 ✨ #LSGvRCB | @RCBTweets

Watch that stroke-filled extravaganza 🎥 🔽https://t.co/6sWBLTcOwm

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 25, 2022

The 28-year-old Patidar hails from a business family, who are manufacturers of pipes used for irrigation. His family wanted him to concentrate on the business if his cricket didn’t work out but Patidar had other ideas. “He always wanted to play cricket and his interest towards his family business was last,” Pandey says. “He just loved playing and the good part was that he never shied away from working hard.”

Patidar had started as a bowler and focussed on his batting only after his Under-15 days. A few years later, he overhauled his batting technique and approach under the guidance of former India batsman Amay Khurasia and has since gone from strength to strength.

Things also changed when Patidar met with a knee injury that resulted in a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and required surgery. He came back as a different player who wanted to achieve something major. He began to play big and crucial innings.

Rajat Patidar in action during his unbeaten 124 off 85 balls against Goa. (Source: Express Archive)

Pandey recalls how he once faced Mohammed Shami and Ashok Dinda with grace in a Vijay Hazare Trophy game against Bengal in his debut season. That day in the dressing room, his team-mates were in awe of his timing, just like those watching in Kolkata on Wednesday.

“The way he was hitting Shami and Dinda, we saw a different class that day. He has that extra time. It was then that we knew this boy will do something for himself.

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“When he scored 196 against Tamil Nadu in a Ranji Trophy match (in 2018-19), he just dominated like a pro who had played a large number of first-class games. But the fact was he didn’t have too much experience at that point. But he had the class which many are finally watching now,” Pandey said.

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Having long established himself in the MP side while hardly anyone was watching, Patidar has scored seven first-class centuries and also has three domestic one-day tons. But it is his latest three-figure knock, only the fourth ever by an uncapped Indian player in the IPL, that has brought him attention after years of playing the role of sankat-mochan for Madhya Pradesh.

© The Indian Express (P) LtdFirst published on: 26-05-2022 at 12:03:02 am Next Story

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