Rajat Patidar

Rajat Patidar was one of the Indian picks for Royal Challengers Bangalore (now called Royal Challengers Bengaluru) during the 2021 auctions of the Indian Premier League. Patidar is a pure top-order batter who plays both pace and spin quite easily.

Coming in as a replacement for Luvnith Sisodia in IPL 2023, Patidar played one of the finest knocks of his career, scoring a century against Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator, becoming the first uncapped batter to score a hundred in an IPL knockout game.

Since then, he became a regular in RCB colours, eventually becoming the franchise’s captain ahead of the IPL 2025. 

The top-order batter has come up through the ranks for Madhya Pradesh. He played for the under-19 and under-22 MP teams and made his First-Class debut in October 2015 against Baroda, where he starred with knocks of 60 and 101, respectively.

A month later, he made his List-A debut in the 2015-16 Vijay Hazare Trophy and flourished well in his maiden season by scoring three hundreds and a fifty in the first 10 outings. 

The stylish right-handed batter made his first T20 appearance against Rajasthan in January 2018.

During the 2020-21 season, he was the man in form for Madhya Pradesh and lit both the limited-over formats with his staggering performances. He scored a 51-ball 96 and two back-to-back half-centuries in his Syed Mushaq Ali campaign, while in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he scored 219 runs, which includes a ton and a fifty.

On the back of performances in the white-ball domestic seasons, Rajat Patidar grabbed an IPL contract from RCB, who bought him for INR 20 lakhs for the 14th edition of the Indian T20 extravaganza. After giving him a handful of chances in IPL 2021, RCB released him ahead of the mega auction, where he went unsold. 

However, RCB again roped him in as a replacement for Luvnith Sisodia, and this was a career-changing point for him. Patidar came to the season riding on the back of a century in the Ranji Trophy 2022 final against Mumbai that led Madhya Pradesh to the title. He cracked 333 runs in IPL 2022, including a match-winning hundred in the Eliminator versus LSG.

At a time when his domestic grind was coming to notice, an injury setback hit him, ruling him out of IPL 2023. After undergoing surgery, he came back to play for his state in the 2023 domestic season, with his form showing no signs of regression.

He made it to the Indian team, debuting in an ODI against South Africa in December 2023. He attained his maiden Test call-up for the five-match home series scheduled against England in early 2023.

Patidar failed in the Test series against England at home, but he somewhat redeemed himself in IPL 2024, playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The batter smashed 395 runs in 13 outings at a strike-rate of 177.13.

Despite a good season with the bat, the middle-order batter failed to grab the attention of selectors and he wasn’t considered for the T20 World Cup, which India went on to win.

Post-IPL 2024, Patidar returned to domestic cricket with Madhya Pradesh. In the 2024-25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), India’s premier domestic T20 tournament, he captained Madhya Pradesh and led them to the final. He amassed 428 runs in nine games at an average of 61.2 and a strike rate of 186.08, finishing among the tournament’s top run-scorers. His standout performance included an 81-run knock in the final against Mumbai, though his team fell short of the title. Earlier in the year, he also smashed a blistering 159 off 102 balls (century in 68 balls) against Haryana, reinforcing his T20 credentials.

In the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season, Patidar continued his fine form, scoring 519 runs at an average of 51.4 as of January 2025, further solidifying his reputation in first-class cricket. Additionally, in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2025, he scored 226 runs at an average of 56.5 and a strike rate of 107, showcasing his adaptability across formats.

A significant milestone came in February 2025 when RCB named Patidar as their captain for IPL 2025, a decision announced on February 13, 2025, surprising many who expected Virat Kohli to reclaim the role. Retained for INR 11 crore ahead of the mega auction, Patidar’s appointment marked his evolution from a replacement player in 2022 to a leadership figure. His calm demeanor, situational awareness, and recent domestic captaincy experience with Madhya Pradesh were cited as reasons for the choice by RCB’s management, including head coach Andy Flower and director Mo Bobat.

(As of April 2025)