Ranji Trophy 2022: Bengaluru crowd chants 'RCB RCB' as Rajat Patidar smashes winning runs for MP

Madhya Pradesh batter Rajat Patidar scored the winning runs to guide his team to Ranji Trophy 2022 triumph and the crowd went ‘RCB RCB’ at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Sunday afternoon. Madhya Pradesh won against title-favourites and 41-times champions Mumbai by 6 wickets in the finals to clinch their first-ever Ranji Trophy.

The 29-year-old batter remained unbeaten on 30 off 37 balls while chasing a target of 108 runs on day five. He also scored 122 runs in the first innings to help Madhya Pradesh take a crucial lead. He finished this Ranji Trophy campaign with 658 runs, second-most this season, in nine innings at an average of 82.25 and a strike rate of 53.15.

Notably, Patidar went unsold in Indian Premier League 2022 (IPL) mega auction but was later signed by his former team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as an injury replacement for Luvnith Sisodia. He soon became the fan favorite by scoring a century in the Eliminator and a fifty in the Qualifier 2 for RCB. Patidar’s heroics with RCB have garnered him a massive fanbase in Bangalore, who gave an erupting ovation when he entered the field on day five. The crowd also went on chanting RCB RCB when he scored the winning runs and Madhya Pradesh secured the maiden title.

Chinnaswamy crowd chanting 'RCB, RCB' after Madhya Pradesh victory in the Ranji Trophy.#RanjiTrophy2022final#RanjiTrophy #Mumbai #MPvMUM #MadhyaPradesh pic.twitter.com/MNqYIo8zMk

— Dilip Jain (@DilipJa22443617) June 26, 2022

Madhya Pradesh win maiden Ranji Trophy title

Madhya Pradesh remained unbeaten in Ranji Trophy 2022 campaign with five wins and one draw. They beat the title favorites Punjab and Bengal in the knockout stages and set up the final against Mumbai. Madhya Pradesh lost the toss and Mumbai decided to bat first at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. However, Gaurav Yadav took four wickets to restrict in-from Mumbai batter to a challenging total of 374 runs in the first inning. Madhya Pradesh batters Yash Dubey, Shubham Sharma, and Patidar scored centuries to put a total of 536 runs in their first inning.

With a strong lead of 162 runs in the first innings, Madhya Pradesh bowlers bowled out Mumbai for just 269 runs in their second innings. Madhya Pradesh then chased down 108 runs target in 29.5 overs with Himanshu Mantri scoring the highest 37 runs. Kumar Kartikeya and Gaurav Yadav finished this season in the top five of the leading wicket-taker chart. Patidar, Dubey, and Sharma also rank in the top five of the leading run-scorer chart in Ranji Trophy 2022.