There was a spell in Tuesday’s Qualifier when Gujarat Titans simply had no reply. One over Rajat Patidar was 16 from 11, quietly repairing the damage after Jason Holder’s double strike; the next he was tearing into what has been one of the competition’s most disciplined attacks. Plans that had looked solid on the whiteboard unravelled in real time.
The numbers back the eye-test. Patidar now sits second on Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s run chart, 483 at a strike-rate touching 197. The noise around an India call-up – some even whisper leadership – is only going to grow as the next World Cup cycle begins.
To Mo Bobat, RCB’s director of cricket, Tuesday was just another marker on the batter’s upward curve. “He’s certainly batting brilliantly right now and has done throughout the competition,” Bobat said after RCB secured a second straight IPL final. “That was a really special knock today and I’m sure he’ll be really pleased to have stood up in a big qualifier.”
He added: “Any team whose captain is playing well gets greater confidence from that. We’re becoming accustomed to seeing these sorts of knocks from him now. He played some outrageous shots, but also really the aggressive intent… that’s leading by example.”
The coaching group have noticed more than raw power. “I remember at some point last season I called him a spin-basher and I think he got a bit annoyed with me because I was implying it was only spin,” Bobat laughed. “He’s probably trying to prove a point to me now.”
According to Bobat, the 30-year-old has practised obsessively with both Dinesh Karthik and Andy Flower. “He’s worked incredibly hard on his game with both DK [Dinesh Karthik] and Andy [Flower]. One thing about Rajat is he middles the ball a lot. Whether it’s pace or spin, front foot or back foot, the ball hits the middle of his bat quite often. That’s usually a very good sign. He’s got really sound basics and a fearless intent. We’ve tried hard over the last couple of years to make that the identity of our team.”
That identity was clear at the death. Patidar’s late surge pushed RCB to a total that felt, in Bobat’s words, “suffocatingly massive”, leaving Titans chasing a game they thought was still within reach only three overs earlier.
The mental side impresses Bobat most. “That ability to read situations and conditions, knowing when to go to top gear and when to drop down one, has been the really impressive part of his development,” he said.
Earlier in the season Patidar produced a similar tempo-shift against Rajasthan Royals, a match RCB won from a shaky 23 for 3. “One of the things he’s done really well this year is picking his moments,” Bobat explained. “I remember the game against Rajasthan Royals (RR) earlier in the season when we lost early wickets. He absorbed pressure initially and then went through the gears. That takes real discipline and sophistication in your thinking.”
This latest effort keeps Bengaluru on course for a long-awaited maiden title. Ambati Rayudu, on television duty, called the franchise’s transformation “quite extraordinary”, while Tom Moody praised a side that, in his view, has learnt “to walk towards pressure rather than away from it”.
Patidar may downplay the noise himself, yet every controlled onslaught strengthens the argument. One more of the same in Sunday’s final and the debate about his international future might already be over.
