More than a thousand fans at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium cheered as Rajat Patidar showed his stroke-making range during his unbeaten 66 in Bengaluru on Friday evening. From the moment he returned to the dressing room after taking Madhya Pradesh to their first Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final since the 2010-11 season, the crowd chanted “RCB, RCB”. Another sound that echoed around the stadium was the ball coming off Patidar’s bat. On a day when players like Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Ayush Badoni batted, none of them hit the white ball as clean and hard as Patidar.
It was an innings that the onlookers did not want to end. Perhaps the same was the case with the MP skipper, as he kept himself busy dealing with a few throwdowns early in the game even as RCB continued to chant. Of course, the 31-year-old was retained by the Bengaluru franchise before the auction.
This year has been interesting for Patidars. He made his Test debut when England called him up earlier in the year due to injuries to KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer. But after showing signs of promise in Visakhapatnam, he was left with just 63 runs to show in three Tests. In the subsequent IPL, he scored 395 runs, which was nowhere near what he was capable of. But as the end of the events of 2024 is approaching, the Patidars have started to discover their old interests.
“I enjoyed going to the highest level and testing myself. Sometimes things don’t go your way, so, that’s okay. It’s part and parcel of the game. Of course, there were times when I felt bad that I missed the opportunity. I was also happy. I had played for India A (against England Lions), but sometimes things don’t go the way you want them to can recreate,” said Patidar.
Madhya Pradesh captain Rajat Patidar played a masterclass against spin bowling as he smashed 66*(29) against Delhi in the semi-final 👏👏#SMAT | @IDFCFIRSTBank
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/Fa4GwxKzs6 pic.twitter.com/WYEE6YQCJq
– BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) December 13, 2024
In the off-season, Patidar had a long chat with MP coach Chandrakant Pandit and used the off-season to put the gruesome Test stint behind him. ‘You have to accept that in any sport there will be failures on the journey. So, it is important to face it and learn it. I’ve just accepted and I’m moving on. You just have to score runs,” Patidar said.
Patidar is doing it in the middle. Over the years, Patidar’s biggest strength has been his ability to hit the ball cleanly and in T20s, he comes across as a natural six hitter. Almost half of the runs he scored in the last IPL came in sixes, which he has continued in the SMAT with 21 runs in 8 innings. “I’m just trying to support my ball in the areas where I’m going to hit. I was hitting longer than last year, and earlier. So I’m trying to find the same pattern I played in the IPL, and how I should go about it,” he said.
Madhya Pradesh was a bit worried when they came out to bat against Delhi in the semi-final. Chasing less than par, they had lost three wickets and Patidar changed the course of the game in his 29-ball stay. He did so in style that transformed the pressure on Delhi in no time.
Despite batting at number 3 for RCB in the past, he is batting at number 5 for Madhya Pradesh, which means less opportunities to score big runs. “I have never focused on scoring big. My mantra is to play one ball at a time. So I try to do that. I never thought I would score big. I focus on what I can do,’ he added.
On Sunday, the MP captain has a task at hand. Making their first SMAT finals appearance in over a decade, a strong Mumbai team awaits. It also looks like a fitting final, where a well-rounded MP team with a good bowling arsenal will go up against Mumbai’s formidable batting line-up.
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