IPL 2022: Rajat Patidar - From unsold player to Lucknow Super Giants slayer

Royal Challengers Bangalore lost their captain Faf Du Plessis for a duck, no one would have thought that the 28-year-old from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, had arrived at the crease to script history. Patidar, who was incredibly ignored by the franchises in the IPL 2022 Mega Auction, scored an unbeaten century (112*) and powered the Royal Challengers Bangalore to a massive 207/4 in their 20 overs against Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator. In reply, LSG fell short of the enormous target and lost the battle by 14 runs. The 28-year-old batsman launched an attack from the word go, tonking the LSG bowlers all over the park. He smashed 12 fours and 7 sixes in his 54-ball whirlwind knock. He remained unbeaten on 112. Once RCB finished their 20 overs and posted 207 on the board, a calm and composed Patidar was welcomed, applauded and got a standing ovation by the entire RCB squad, including Virat Kohli.

Image credit: BCCI/IPLPATIDAR - WENT UNSOLD IN LAST PLAYER AUCTION BUT DELIVERED LIKE A PROPatidar was part of the RCB side in the 2021 season. He was bought for Rs 20 lakh. He played 4 matches for RCB, scoring 71 runs at an average of 17.75. In the IPL 2022 Mega Auction, when Patidar's name was called by the auctioneer, no franchise showed interest in Madhya Pradesh's star batsman. In fact, RCB too ignored him. Later, he was signed as an injury replacement for Luvnith Sisodia. Madhya Pradesh's domestic bulwark has 2588 runs in 39 first-class matches and 1136 runs in 38 T20 matches under his belt so far. He was the leading run-scorer for Madhya Pradesh in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy, with 713 runs in 8 matches. In the IPL, Patidar got to share the dressing room with the likes of Virat Kohli, Faf Du Plessis, Dinesh Karthik, Glenn