Rajat Patidar was without a franchise after Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auctions. Event at a base price of Rs 20 lakh, no franchise showed interest him after an ordinary 2021 season for RCB. Patidar had made up his mind to watch IPL on the sidelines. However, a stroke of luck changed his fortunes. An injury in RCB camp paved the way for the hard-hitting batter.
The 28-year-old did not return with a bang and scored just 16 runs in his first game of the season where RCB were bundled out for 115. He got another opportunity against Gujarat Titans (GT) and made the most of it with his maiden half-century. After that, he had a decent season, scoring registering scores of 21, 48 and 26.
He did not get a chance to bat against GT in RCB’s must-win clash. In the eliminator, Patidar found himself in the middle just five balls into the game. Mohsin Khan had got rid of skipper Faf du Plessis and was swinging the ball away from the right-handed batters.
In an attempt to make full use of fielding restrictions, Patidar launched a counter-attack in the fifth over with a couple of boundaries off Avesh Khan. He broke free in the final over of powerplay overs. He took on left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya and hit him for three fours and one six.
After Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell's wicket, there was more pressure on him to deliver in the middle overs. Meanwhile, he got to his half-century from 28 deliveries.
In the slog overs, Patidar decided to go all guns blazing. He punished leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi and defied all match-ups by hitting three sixes and two fours in a single over. He made Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for dropped chances. In the 18th over, Patidar reached his century with a six off Mohsin, the most economical LSG bowler in the eliminator. He took just 49 deliveries to breach the three figures, the fastest century of the season.
While Dinesh Karthik helped RCB past the 200-run mark, the right-handed batter carried his bat. He scored 112 runs from 54 deliveries. His dreamy knock was studded with 12 fours and seven sixes.
With a single knock, Patidar paid the Rs 20 lakh price several times over. At the same time, he made franchises regret their not decision to not go for Patidar in the auction.
Records galore
The Madhya Pradesh batter etched his name in IPL history books. He holds the record for highest score by an uncapped batter in IPL playoffs/knockouts. Also, he became the fifth uncapped batter after Paul Valthaty (120 not out), Shaun Marsh (115 not out), Manish Pandey (114 not out), Devdutt Padikkal (101 not out) to score a century in IPL. He equalled Wriddhiman Saha's record of fastest century in IPL playoffs as well.
