New Delhi: Rajat Patidar never carried himself like someone preparing to lead one of IPL’s most high-profile franchises. Even now, after leading champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a second consecutive final, those who know him well say he behaves less like a star cricketer and more like the composed boy from Indore as he has always been.
His long hair – jokingly compared by friends to Hamza Ali Mazaari from Dhurandhar – is perhaps the only thing currently challenging that understated image. Beneath that exterior, says Abhishek Pathrod, childhood friend and a coach with Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, was always a mind cut out for leadership.
“One thing that has never changed about him is how calm and composed he is,” Pathrod told HT. “Since childhood, he has always thought deeply before taking decisions. He tries to understand every possibility first. That quality helps a lot in captaincy.”
Pathrod remembers that even in local cricket Patidar was never impulsive. “He always has plans,” he said. “A, B, C, D, E… everything. If one thing doesn’t work, he already knows what the next option is. Even beyond cricket, he thinks ahead like that.”
That temperament has increasingly shown in his captaincy this IPL. Be it bowling changes or preserving match-ups for later, the Madhya Pradesh cricketer’s decisions are detached from panic.
“He thinks seriously about why something is being done,” he said. “If this happens, what next? If that fails, then what else? He doesn’t overreact emotionally if one plan doesn’t work.”
Patidar was the captain when RCB broke their 18-year-old trophy wait last year. RCB are on the verge of becoming only the third team to defend their IPL title. Pathrod pauses for a moment when asked about Patidar establishing his legacy.
“I got goosebumps when you said that,” Pathrod said. When the captaincy offer first came, Patidar had joked with his close friends that maybe he was meant to end the title wait. It was the first thing they recalled when the team lifted the trophy last year. With RCB in another final, that conversation feels more like destiny than a joke.
Pathrod says selectors and coaches saw something different in Patidar very early. “If you made many people bat, he would stand out. Everyone used to say there’s something different about this boy.”
Former national selector
Sanjay Jagdale says what also stood out was his not getting consumed by T20 cricket even when the IPL boom changed the ambition of youngsters.
“What really stands out about him is his resolve to play red-ball cricket too,” Jagdale, the former Madhya Pradesh allrounder who observed him from close as an MPCA official, said. “Even in an age when white-ball cricket was booming, he prioritised red-ball cricket. At practice, he is the first to arrive and the last to leave.”
People now associate Patidar with clean six-hitting, but Pathrod points to a Ranji Trophy double hundred against Punjab last season when he didn’t hit a six as proof of how he can alter his game to suit the format.
RCB director Mo Bobat said he underestimated Patidar initially. “I remember at some point last season I called him a spin-basher and he got a bit annoyed with me because I was implying it was only spin,” he told a press conference. “He’s probably trying to prove a point to me now.”
He’s worked really hard on his game with Dinesh Karthik and Andy Flower, he said. “One thing about Rajat is he middles the ball a lot,” Bobat said. “Whether it’s pace or spin, front foot or back foot, the ball hits the middle of his bat quite often. He’s got really sound basics and fearless intent.”
That intent, and his composure, has slowly turned Patidar into the emotional centre of this RCB side. Yet away from the spotlight, very little about Patidar’s life reflects IPL stardom, says Pathrod. Young players at MPCA often mention Patidar’s role in shaping their mindsets. “Even now, after becoming RCB captain, he stays connected to local cricketers and helps them.”
RCB spent years defined by big names and fame without the most important outcome – an IPL title. Perhaps that is why Patidar’s rise feels unusual yet special. The man who arrived at the star-studded franchise as an injury replacement and has become pivotal to ending their seemingly endless run of disappointment.
