LSG vs RCB: Rajat Patidar Messed Up The Opposition's Plans – Sanjay Manjrekar

Cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar lavished praise on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Rajat Patidar’s phenomenal batting against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Eliminator.

Patidar scored a thunderous unbeaten 112 against LSG on Wednesday at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Patidar hammered 12 fours and seven sixes, striking at 207.41, in his maiden T20 hundred that propelled RCB to 207/4 and eventually won by 14 runs.

On a day when big names like Faf du Plessis (0), Virat Kohli (25) and Glenn Maxwell (9) failed to contribute in the knockout game, Patidar continued the assault on LSG bowlers.

He took the LSG spinners Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi to the cleaners. Patidar smashed 26 runs with three sixes and a couple of fours – off Bishnoi in five balls.

Rajat Patidar played a high-risk game: Sanjay Manjrekar

Manjrekar said Patidar wears playing a high-risk game and was successful in defying LSG’s plans to restrict RCB to a moderate score.

“Rajat Patidar played a high-risk game. He attacked Krunal Pandya in the 6th over and was relentless in his attack after that. He messed up the opposition’s plan,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.

“There is always greater focus on the big names like Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell, so that helped Patidar. Not only did he play high-risk cricket and maintain a great strike rate, his batting ability was on display as well,” he added.

Chandrakant Pandit told me Patidar always had the power game: Sanjay Manjrekar

Manjrekar said Madhya Pradesh head coach Chandrakant Pandit believes Patidar has the potential to play for India.

“I was speaking to his coach, MP coach Chandrakant Pandit. He told me Patidar always had the power game and is a very calm player,” Manjrekar said.

“He always felt that Patidar has the potential to play for India. It is really nice to see his performance at this level. Hopefully, he can keep delivering such performances in the future,” he added.

Patidar was unsold in the IPL 2022 auction but an injury to Luvnith Sisodia opened the gates for Madhya Pradesh batter to shine in the tournament.

Also Read: Watch- Rajat Patidar Caught In Embarrassing Moment After LSG vs RCB