Rajat Patidar solves RCB’s long-standing No 3 problem

Rajat Patidar followed his maiden IPL century with a fifty against the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2022 Qualifier 2 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Friday. The 28-year-old was dismissed for 58 runs off 42 balls. 

Patidar was unsold at the IPL 2022 mega-auction. He was roped into the RCB squad as a replacement for Karnataka’s Luvnith Sisodia. Faf du Plessis handed him a No 3 slot in their ninth game of the season, against the Rajasthan Royals. The batter scored a run-a-ball 16. He then came back with a 32-ball 52 against the Gujarat Titans before getting 21, 48, 26 and 0. 

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Coming into bat when RCB had lost skipper Faf du Plessis for a duck and were at 4/1 in the Eliminator against the Lucknow Super Giants, Patidar slammed 112 runs off 54 balls with the help of 12 boundaries and seven maximums. On Friday he managed four and three. 

Cricket experts and fans are in awe of Patidar’s stroke-filled batting. So is the Royal Challengers Bangalore management. He looks like the solution to their long-standing No 3 issue. 

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RCB were all settled with former skipper Kohli taking No 3 before the 33-year-old was promoted to opener. The team had started this season with du Plessis and young Anuj Rawat at the top. However, the latter failed to go big and was ultimately benched. 

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As soon as Kohli was slotted at the top, Patidar was brought into the playing 11 and continues to bat there. 

The team looked happed with the like of KS Bharat at No 3 last season. However, the wicket-keeper batter shifted base to the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2022, leaving them with the vaccume. With Patidar firing, RCB might have managed to find someone who can attack pacers and spinners at a good strike rate and continue to build an innings in the meantime.