Rajat Patidar Gets Ahead Of Shreyas Iyer For India Captaincy And Batting – Rajat Patidar Outshines Shreyas Iyer in IPL 2026 Qualifier 1
Rajat Patidar Leads Royal Challengers Bengaluru to Record Total
Rajat Patidar was the star of the show in the IPL 2026 Qualifier 1, as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) took on Gujarat Titans (GT) at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala.
GT captain Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to bowl first, but RCB had other plans. They came out with a plan to post a big total, and their batters delivered. Venkatesh Iyer started with a 7-ball 19, while Virat Kohli scored 43 runs in 25 balls with five fours and one six. Devdutt Padikkal continued the trend with 30 runs in 19 balls with five fours.
Rajat Patidar Takes Center Stage
After Kohli and Padikkal were removed in the same over, captain Rajat Patidar took charge. He smashed 93* in 33 balls, including nine sixes and five fours. He received excellent support from Jitesh Sharma (15* in 5 balls) and Krunal Pandya (43). RCB scored 254/5 in 20 overs, the most in an IPL playoff game.
GT’s batting collapsed under the pressure of chasing a record target. Jos Buttler (29) and Sai Sudharsan (14) were formidable for a time, but GT’s innings never gained momentum. Rahul Tewatia’s 68 helped GT score 162 after they lost a ton of wickets. For RCB, Jacob Duffy collected 3/39, while Krunal Pandya, Rasikh Salam, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar each took two wickets.
Ravichandran Ashwin Praises Rajat Patidar
Rajat Patidar’s batting and captaincy abilities have impressed former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. With a remarkable strike rate of 281.82, the RCB captain smashed five boundaries and nine sixes. His 28-run dismissal of Kulwant Khejroliya in a single over was one of his batting highlights.
Ashwin was mightily impressed with Patidar’s backfoot six off a quick delivery outside off stump. “That backfoot six Rajat hit off Kagiso Rabada was the straight-up shot of the day, probably even a contender for shot of the tournament. How he even managed to generate that power from there is beyond me,” Ashwin said on his YouTube show ‘Ash ki Baat’.
Rajat Patidar Surpasses Shreyas Iyer
Ashwin also talked about Rajat Patidar’s captaincy acumen and compared it with Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer. He stated that he felt that before this knock, Shreyas Iyer was ahead in captaincy and batting discussions, but Patidar has now caught up with him.
“Before this knock, Shreyas Iyer was probably a bit ahead in the captaincy and batting conversations, but after tonight, Patidar is right up there. We all know how good Rajat Patidar is against spin, but the way he handled fast bowling today was seriously impressive too.
And those sixes he hit off Rashid Khan… I’ve seen very few batters who can get onto the front foot, get right to the pitch of the ball, and still loft Rashid over extra cover for six like that. Pure class. Cometh the man, cometh the hour,” he added.
RCB has a Chance to Create History
Royal Challengers Bengaluru reached their second IPL final in a row and now have a chance to win their second Indian Premier League in succession. If they manage to achieve this feat, they will join the league of Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.
CSK and MI are the only two franchises to win two successive IPL titles. CSK did it in 2010 and 2011, and MI won the IPL in 2019 and 2020.
