Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper Rajat Patidar played an important knock when his team was struggling at the beginning of the first innings.

RCB lost the wickets of Phil Salt and Mayank Agarwal early, within the first half of the innings, and Punjab Kings (PBKS) were looking comfortable enough at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, in the all-important match of IPL 2025.

Punjab Kings bowlers have adopted an interesting tactic to lower RCB's run rate. They chose to bowl closer to the batter's body so that the batsman can't expand his wings for a flier. Yuzvendra Chahal did not make any delay to draw a smile on Shreyas Iyer's face, the skipper of PBKS, who won the IPL 2024 title with Kolkata Knight Riders.

Read More: IPL 2025: Complete Prize Money Breakdown – Winner, Runner-Up, Orange Cap, Purple Cap & Emerging Player

Patidar skilfully dispatched a quicker from Chahal 

When Patidar stepped into Narendra Modi Stadium as the number 4 batter to stitch a sustainable partnership with Virat Kohli, RCB was then 56 for 2. Patidar and Kohli slowed down their batting to accustom themselves to the atmosphere and situation, then gradually started to apply pressure on the throttle.

During his 16-ball, 26-run short innings, Patidar had played multiple good-looking shots; one of those came against Chahal as well. It was a slightly quicker delivery from the spinner in the 9th over, and Patidar, one knee down, shamed the ball between the deep mid-wicket and long-on areas for a maximum. 

Despite spending some time on the wicket, the RCB skipper was not able to convert his innings for a huge score. The right-handed batter departed after being hit by a slower knee-height ball by Kyle Jamieson during the 11th over of the innings when Bengaluru was at 96 and Virat Kohli was on the field, not out. 

Watch the 6 here

CAPTAIN RAJAT PATIDAR HAS ARRIVED....!!! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/f8GqztsP5A

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) June 3, 2025