Royal Challengers Bangalore qualified for the playoffs for 3rd time in a row when Mumbai Indians won against Delhi Capitals in the penultimate league game of IPL 2022.

In the last 2 years, RCB after having qualified for the playoffs lost the Eliminator and got knocked out. This time around, the way they made it through the last 4, there were talks that RCB might just be able to go the distance this time around.

But those were just talks, the real game is played on the field. The question was when the Eliminator started, can RCB do it this time?

I Felt I Could Score Big Today: Rajat Patidar

They didn’t start well at all, after having been put to bat first, Faf got out for a golden duck. Virat Kohli scored just 24 runs. Glenn Maxwell scored just 9 runs.

It seemed as if this time too RCB’s tournament might get cut short. But Rajat Patidar, the player from Madya Pradesh had other ideas. In a high-profile game when all seemed lost when all the big guns were gone, a young Patidar scored the fastest century by an uncapped player in the history of the tournament.

He reached his century in just 49 balls and ended the innings at 112 from 54 balls. He was well supported by Dinesh Karthik in the end as Karthik scored 37 off 23 balls. Those two knocks took RCB to 207 in their first innings.

After the memorable knock, Rajat Patidar was declared the player of the match. After the game said, ” I have been timing the ball and that was the focus, instead of powering the ball. In the last over of the powerplay, when I was facing Krunal Pandya, the way I could execute my plans, I felt I could score big today.

My focus was on cashing in on the opportunity and looked to play with the straight bat and time it. I don’t come under pressure even after facing dots because of the ability I know I have. I wasn’t picked up in the auction but was involved in my practice and that helped.”

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