Royal Challengers Bangalore’s newest star Rajat Patidar scored a brilliant century against Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator on Wednesday to help the team stay alive in the tournament and progress onto Friday's Qualifier 2.
In only his seventh outing for RCB this season, Patidar scored 112 runs off just 54 balls, smashing 12 boundaries and seven sixes, knocking the fastest century of IPL 2022.
More importantly though, Patidar's century helped RCB set a target of 208 for Lucknow, which they were eventually not able to chase down and lost the Eliminator by 14 runs.
Patidar, who began his cricketing journey as a bowler, focused on his batting only after his Under-15 days. Under the guidance of former Indian batter Amay Khurasia, Patidar went on to strengthen his batting skills and perfect his game.
He has been playing cricket for his state Madhya Pradesh since 2015 and is a well-known name in the domestic circuit and has already scored seven first-class centuries and also three domestic one-day centuries for his MP team.
Many a times he has helped his state team recover from difficult situations and played some crucial knocks for them.
Rajat Patidar in action for RCB during IPL 2022.
Image: BCCI
After being selected by RCB in IPL 2021, Patidar only played four matches for the franchise and unfortunately, went unsold at the 2022 IPL auction. However, he was called in mid-tournament this season by the RCB coach Sanjay Bangar as a replacement for injured Luvnith Sisodia.
On Wednesday, Patidar proved himself worthy of that call by playing the match-winning in Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.
Patidar’s outstanding and quick century against LSG in a packed stadium has caught many people’s attention. He is only the fourth uncapped Indian player in IPL history to score a three-figure knock.
All eyes will be on him on Friday as RCB will face Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 to reach the finals of IPL 2022. The winner of this match will face Gujarat Titans to win the title this year.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)