Uncapped batter Rajat Patidar lit up the Eden Gardens with his scintillating batting display for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Wednesday. Patidar, who came to bat when RCB’s score read 4/1 in 0.5 overs, stayed in the middle till the very end to guide RCB to a daunting total.
While the big guns like Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell failed to fire, Patidar stood tall and took the LSG bowlers to the cleaners. He smashed an unbeaten knock of 112 runs from just 54 deliveries, with the help of 12 fours and seven humungous sixes, as RCB eventually won the do-or-die contest by 14 runs.
After the epic win, former RCB skipper Kohli heaped praises on Patidar, stating he hasn’t seen a better inning than Patidar’s ton, especially under pressure.
“I have seen many impact innings and many innings under pressure over so many years, but I have not seen better than how Rajat played today,” Kohli said in a post-game chat with Patidar.
Kohli mentioned that he was feeling the tension in the air, given it was a knockout game, so what Patidar did was very special and should be appreciated.
“The magnitude of the game was so big that I was feeling the tension in the air because I have been in those situations where you have to cross the line as a team. So what he did was very, very special, and I don’t think anyone should take that for granted. You should understand the excellence of his innings and appreciate as a cricketer to watch an innings like that,” added Kohli.
The Bangalore-based franchise is into the playoffs for the third successive year. RCB will now face Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Qualifier 2 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday. The winner of this contest will meet Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL 2022 final, scheduled to take place on Sunday (May 29).
