Rajat Patidar, the Primary Spark in Bengaluru's Revival

Two months ago Rajat Patidar could not buy a score. He was exposed terribly in the Test series against England and started slowly this season as well. Playing each game after missing out last season to injury, Rajat Patidar did not look like the batter who made a name for himself in 2022.

The first half was disastrous for Bengaluru with him and the rest of the side struggling. Interestingly, while Virat Kohli was one of the true drivers in their revival, it was Rajat Patidar who kept the momentum going silently from the side. With Virat Kohi as his partner on most occasions, the attention often shifted to the superstar.

Rajat Patidar though prevented Virat Kohli’s spin slowdown. He took on the spinners in the middle overs comfortably, causing them to feel the heat, which Virat Kohli was able to capitalize on. His success was evident with his first 50 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad taking them to 200+, a winning score on the day, starting the five-game win streak.

With Patidar doing his job in the middle, Cameron Green, who struggled early as well, has started finding it easy to go out and tonk a few into the stands in the last few overs.

Patidar’s work against spin is evident as he stands alongside Abhishek Sharma for the most sixes against spinners in IPL 2024. Interestingly, Patidar has claimed to be happier against pace rather than spin. Batting in the top-order, pace ideally would be a lot more comfortable for him. Batting in the middle overs this season though has not allowed him to bring out that aspect of his game.

He has understood that there is far less time to get settled at number four. Unlike in domestic cricket, he walks out with spinners in front of him and has to find a way to take them on to prevent losing momentum in the innings.

His way of taking on spin has been pretty clear as well. Like Abhishek Sharma and Shivam Dube, Patidar has not had any half-measures in his approach. His footwork too does not look confused and his primary goal is to get a clean swing at the ball.

He came into the tournament with some poor form and was rather disheartened. Playing in 4 Tests against England, Patidar could only manage 63 runs after all his hard work in the Ranji Trophy. The format change though has worked well. He has been backed by the franchise as well and is delivering. He has one more task left in the league stage though. With Will Jacks leaving the responsibility on Rajat Patidar grows. The Super Kings are weak on spin, and Patidar could put them under a lot of pressure if he clears the fence against Jadeja.