What Patidar did was very, very special: Kohli

RCB century-maker says he was confident that if he batted for a while, he could get runs against any bowler

Smile, please! It’s selfie time for Kohli with Patidar, the star of the Eliminator. Sportzpics/IPL | Photo Credit: Sportzpics/IPL

Two matches into the 2022 IPL season, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) signed Rajat Patidar as a replacement for the injured Luvnith Sisodia.

The news did not gain much attention as neither Sisodia nor Patidar were household names. Patidar had an unimpressive 2021 season with RCB, making 71 runs in four appearances.

No takers

The batter did not find any taker in the 2022 IPL mega auction.

After his match-winning unbeaten 112 in the crucial Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants at Kolkata, Patidar will no longer fly under the radar.

The Madhya Pradesh batter, signed by RCB for his base price of ₹20 lakh, became the first uncapped player in IPL history to hit a century in the playoffs.

Patidar drew high praise from his superstar teammate Virat Kohli.

“I’ve seen many impact innings under pressure over the years. But I’ve not seen many better than Rajat’s knock. The magnitude of the game was so big that I was feeling the tension in the air. What he did was very, very special,” Kohli said, in a chat with Patidar on iplt20.com.

Patidar explained that even if he played a few dot balls in the early stages of his knock, he could make up for it later.

“I was confident that if I batted for a while, I could get runs against any bowler,” Patidar added.

At the start of this informal interview, Kohli had trouble pronouncing ‘Patidar’, drawing a correction from the man.

Kohli got it right the second time, and proclaimed, “Rajat Patidar — a name you will hear a lot in the future.”