'I had faith in myself'- Rajat Patidar gets candid with Virat Kohli about his mindset during IPL 2022 Eliminator

Rajat Patidar set a plethora of records during his whirlwind unbeaten century against the Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2022 Eliminator, at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The youngster scored an unbeaten 54-ball 112 as he staged a fearless counter-attacking knock in a high-pressure game that saw the Royal Challengers Bangalore lose their top-order early.

After the memorable knock that also earned him a well-deserved “Player of the Match” award, the emerging batter was interviewed by the batting megastar Virat Kohli. While speaking to the former RCB skipper, Patidar said that he did not have any thoughts in his mind when he walked out to bat in the very first over after skipper Faf du Plessis was dismissed for a golden duck.

I knew I would  go on to play a big knock once I got set: Rajat Patidar

“Nothing was going on in my mind, to be honest, nor there was any pressure on me, but I had faith in myself that if I can build a partnership from here then I can take the team to a good position,” said Patidar while speaking to Kohli in a video posted by IPLt20.com.

“I had faith in myself that even if I played a few dots in the beginning and if I stay at the wicket later on then I would be able to cover up for that. We had lost a couple of early wickets and at that time my role was to hold on firmly from one side and take the team to a good total. So, that was my focus,” he added.

By the virtue of his quickfire ton, Rajat Patidar also became the first RCB player to breach the three-figure mark in playoffs, the first player to score a century in the IPL Eliminator, and the first-ever uncapped player to register a 100 in IPL Playoffs. His century was also the fastest of IPL 2022.

The youngster will be expected to showcase a similar kind of performance against the Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on May 27.