In the last 12 months, everything that Rajat Patidar was touching was turning into gold. Promoted to Madhya Pradesh’s T20 captain, the 32-year-old hasn’t looked back since. Although Mumbai turned out to be too strong in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) final, it was the beginning of something special.
Rajat Patidar’s incredible run as captain
Two months later, Patidar was named captain of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Once again, he took his team to the final. This time, luck was on his side. Patidar made Virat Kohli’s dream true as RCB lifted their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy.
But well, those were the same formats. Patidar didn’t play until the Duleep Trophy. He was then named the Central Zone’s captain, as Dhruv Jurel had to miss out due to an injury. Guess what? He took that team to the final as well. And easily beat the South Zone by 6 wickets at the Centre of Excellence.
Amid all of this, Patidar also remained in exquisite touch. In the Duleep Trophy, he ended as the highest run-getter. 125, 66, 77, 101, and 13 – these were his scores. Truly special. All of them were the captain’s knock. But that magic has ended now.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had named him captain of the Rest of India (ROI) team for the 2025 Irani Cup. Patidar didn’t disappoint much with the bat, scoring 66 and 10 against Vidarbha. But ROI couldn’t cross the finish line.
Vidarbha clinch 2025 Irani Cup
In the last session of the match in Nagpur, Harsh Dubey took the wicket of Gurnoor Brar as Vidarbha, the reigning Ranji Trophy champions, took the Irani Cup home. The victory came for Vidarbha without their talisman Karun Nair, who has left for Karnataka, showing just how good they were.
Atharva Taide was named the ‘player of the match’ for his 143-run knock in the first innings, which granted Vidarbha a 128-run lead in the first innings. Yash Rathod played a major role as well, as he scored 91 runs in the first outing. Apart from Patidar, Abhimanyu Easwaran was the only one to score a fifty for ROI in their first innings.
The second outing didn’t go well for anyone but Yash Dhull and Manav Suthar. The batter from Delhi top-scored for ROI in the match with a solid 92-run knock but was dismissed by Yash Thakur. Suthar ended unbeaten on 56 as Vidarbha won by 93 runs.
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