Rajat Patidar is known to excel against spin but on Wednesday he was content with smashing the best fast bowlers in Dharamsala. Be it Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, Jason Holder or Prasidh Krishna, none had any answer to his pyrotechnics.
Gujarat Titans’ entire plan had been built on the assumption that the RCB captain was a spin basher and would struggle against their pace battery. The moment Patidar arrived, Rashid Khan was taken off and Holder and Krishna were brought in.
Once Rabada came in, Patidar struggled a bit and survived a chance at square
leg. He was on 20 off 12 then but he then launched into an overdrive as 71 came off the next 19 balls.
Patidar has been stupendous in the middle-overs this season and that is one of the reasons for RCB’s surge once the top-order departed. His strike-rate in overs 7 to 15 this season is 203.97, ahead of KL Rahul, who is second in this phase among those who’ve faced at least 100 balls, at 189.33.
“A player earns the respect of his teammates when he performs in the big games. Patidar has done exactly that. This first qualifier was a massive game for RCB. Winning the first qualifier and going straight to the final gives you a huge advantage,” said Anil Kumble on JioHotstar.
“Rajat has done a terrific job as captain. But what stands out about RCB is that different players step up in different games.”