'Thank you for believing me' - Rajat Patidar expresses gratitude to Virat Kohli after century against LSG

RCB’s fairytale continued last night (May 25) thanks to Rajat Patidar, who played the innings of his life against Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2022 Eliminator in front of a packed Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The stylish right-hander scored an unbeaten 112 off 54 balls as the batter took a heavy toll on some lacklustre bowling in the middle overs by the Super Giants. Patidar went on to thank Virat Kohli after the game via Twitter.

Patidar, who was originally not a part of the RCB squad, only joined the team as a replacement after an injury to Luvnith Sisodia. Meanwhile, he posted a picture of himself with former RCB skipper Virat Kohli and the post read “Thankyou @imVkohli for believing me!.”

I have not seen many better innings than Patidar’s: Virat Kohli

RCB were in a spot of bother when their famed batting trio of Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, and Glenn Maxwell were all back in the hut by the 11th over. But Patidar rose to the occasion with a few helping hands in the field and stitched a backbreaking unbeaten partnership of 92 runs from 41 balls with veteran Dinesh Karthik. The duo added 84 runs in the last five overs to propel RCB’s total to a mammoth 207/4.

Thankyou @imVkohli for believing me ! pic.twitter.com/ZBYtNESNZm

— Rajat Patidar (@RajatPatidarOff) May 26, 2022

“The magnitude of the game was so big that I was feeling the tension in the air because I have been in those situations where you have to cross the line as a team. What he did was very, very special, I don’t think that anyone should take that for granted. You should understand the excellence of the innings and appreciate as a cricketer to watch an innings like that,” said Kohli in a post-match chat with iplt20.com.

“I told him as well after the game as well that I have seen many impact innings and many innings under pressure over so many years. I have not seen much better than how Rajat played today. Under pressure, big game, the first uncapped player in the history of IPL to get a hundred in playoffs,” added Kohli.

Patidar’s magnificent century was undoubtedly the highlight of the night, but RCB bowlers Harshal Patel and Josh Hazlewood were equally impressive with the ball, as they reduced LSG to 193/6 after 20 overs.