5 min readBengaluruDec 15, 2024 04:53 AM IST
First published on: Dec 14, 2024 at 06:34 PM IST
As Rajat Patidar was displaying his range of stroke-making during an unbeaten 66 on Friday evening in Bengaluru, there were more than a thousand fans at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium cheering on. From the moment he walked in and till the moment he headed back to the dressing room after taking Madhya Pradesh to their first Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final since the 2010-’11 season, the spectators vociferously chanted “RCB, RCB”. The other sound that echoed around the stadium was that of the ball pinging off Patidar’s bat. On a day where the likes of Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Ayush Badoni batted, none of them struck the white ball as clean and hard as Patidar.
It was an innings that those watching on didn’t want to end. Maybe that was the case with the MP captain too, as he engaged himself in facing a few throwdowns immediately after the match even as the RCB chants continued. The 31-year-old, of course, was retained by the Bengaluru franchise ahead of the player auctions.
This has been an interesting year for Patidar. Early in the year when England came calling, injuries to KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer meant he made his Test debut. But after showing signs of promise at Visakhapatnam, he had just 63 runs to show from three Tests. In the IPL that followed, he tallied 395 runs, which was again nowhere close to what he is capable of. But as an eventful 2024 nears its end, Patidar is beginning to discover his old self.
“I enjoyed going and testing myself at the highest level. Sometimes things don’t come your way, so, it is okay. It’s a part and parcel of the game. Of course, sometimes I was feeling bad that I missed the opportunity. But at the same time, I was happy also that I have gone and represented the team in the Tests. I was backing the game that took me to the Indian team. I’d played for India A (against England Lions) and was in good touch, but sometimes things don’t go the way you want. I can recreate the opportunity as well again,” Patidar said.
In the off-season, Patidar had a long conversation with MP coach Chandrakant Pandit and used the off-season to put the horrid Test stint behind. “You have to accept that there will be failures in the journey in any sport. So, it’s important to face it and learn it. I’ve just accepted it and I’m moving forward. You just have to score runs,” Patidar said.
It is what Patidar is doing 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. Nearly half of the runs he scored in the last IPL came in sixes, which he has continued at the SMAT as well with 21 in 8 innings. “I’m just trying to back my strength in the areas where I’m going to hit. I was hitting long from last year, and the one before. So I’m just trying to find the same pattern that I was playing in IPL, and how I have to go about it,” he said.
When he walked into bat against Delhi in the semifinal, Madhya Pradesh were in a bit of bother. Chasing a below-par total they had lost three wickets and that is when Patidar changed the course of the match in his 29-ball stay. He did so in some style as well as converting pressure onto Delhi in no time.
Despite batting at No 3 for RCB in the past, he has been batting at No 5 for Madhya Pradesh, which means there are fewer opportunities to score big runs. “I’ve never paid attention to getting the big scores. My mantra is to play one ball at a time. So I try to do that. I’ve never thought that I’d get a big score. I focus on what I can do,” he added.
On Sunday, the MP skipper has a job at hand. Having made their first SMAT final appearance in over a decade, a strong Mumbai team awaits. It seems a fitting final as well, where a well-rounded MP team that has a good bowling arsenal will be up against a mighty batting line-up of Mumbai.
Despite batting at No 3 for RCB in the past, Rajat Patidar has been batting at No 5 for Madhya Pradesh. (PTI) 
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