Rajat Patidar is in the form of his life, and he’s making it count. The 31-year-old singlehandedly took his team, Madhya Pradesh (MP), to a respectable total of 174, owning his increased unbeaten 81-run knock in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024-25 Final. Facing Mumbai at his second home ground, the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Patidar thrashed each bowler, not sparing international players like Shardul Thakur and Shivam Dube.
The Rajat Patidar Special in SMAT Final
Having been put to bat by Mumbai, MP captain Patidar came into the middle at 48/3 in 7.4 overs. By the end of the 13th over, MP was five men down, which included in-form Venkatesh Iyer as well. Everything depended on Patidar, and he played like that.
He scored nearly 50% of the runs and took them from 114/5 from 15 overs to 174/8 when the innings ended. His 81-run knock consisted of 12 boundaries (6 sixes and 6 fours), as none of the other MP batters even crossed the 25-run mark. He was assisted briefly by Rahul Batham, who chipped in with a handy 19-run knock.
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Patidar at RCB home in SMAT 2024-25
Patidar has played two matches at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, his Royal Challengers Bengaluru home ground, and is to be dismissed. His first knock came in the semifinal of SMAT 2024-25 against Delhi as he scored an unbeaten 66 in just 29 balls, and now today he scores 81 off just 40 deliveries. The outcome of the Mumbai vs Madhya Pradesh match isn’t out yet but if MP somehow wins, the credit must go to Rajat Patidar.
And on a franchise-specific note, something incredible might be waiting for RCB in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season.
Rajat Patidar record in SMAT 2024-25
| Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 428 | 61.14 | 186.08 | 5 |
