'I never feel any pressure' - Rajat Patidar on his batting brilliance against LSG in Eliminator

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Rajat Patidar has opened up about his strength as a batter after his heroics against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) during the Eliminator match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. On the back of his stunning ton (112* off 54), the Red Army posted a competitive total of 207 runs in their allotted 20 overs and eventually won the contest by 14 runs.

Patidar has been a part of the RCB camp since 2021 but did not get enough chances to showcase his batting prowess. It required a bit of fortune for Patidar to return to the Red Army camp. To note, the right-handed batter did not find any bidders during IPL 2022 mega auction. However, his breakthrough came after RCB’s Luvnith Sisodia got injured and the RCB camp decided to replace him with Patidar.

I was not picked in IPL 2022, but that was not in my control: Rajat Patidar

”I was busy after the 2021 IPL playing for my club. I wasn’t picked after the 2021 IPL but that wasn’t in my control,” Patidar, who was named Player of the Match said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

”I never feel any pressure as I think I can make up for the dots. When I time the ball, my focus was on it. In the last over of the powerplay when Krunal was bowling to me, my execution went fine then and I got confident afterward. The wicket was pretty good and I played some good shots,” the batter added.

Talking about LSG vs RCB match, the new entrants won the toss and opted to bowl first. Captain Faf du Plessis departed early, but some decent contributions from former skipper Virat Kohli and wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik along with Patidar ensured that RCB cross the 200-run mark.

In reply, LSG looked in the hunt for the best part with the likes of KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda playing excellent knocks. However, the Red Army bowlers pulled things back in the death overs and took their side to a 14-run triumph.