Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag has showered praise on Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar after the defending champions registered a resounding 92-run win against Gujarat Titans in the first qualifier at Dharamshala on Tuesday.
Patidar scored a magnificent knock of 93 runs off just 33 balls with the help of five fours and nine sixes. The RCB captain scored his runs at a blistering strike rate of 281.82 and played a key role in helping his team post an above-par score of 254 runs on the board.
The right-hander got off to a sedate start, scoring 14 runs off the first 10 balls but on the next 23 deliveries, he smashed 79 runs. Patidar also had the rub of the green as he was dropped by Kagiso Rabada when he was on 20.
Patidar has scored 486 runs in 13 innings of IPL 2026 at an average of 44.18 and a strike rate of 196.76.
Sehwag reckons the Indian team is not far away at all for Patidar as he has been performing consistently at the domestic level.
“When he had come into bat, two wickets had fallen in the same over. From there, he handled the situation, structured his innings, and then completely wreaked havovc in the end. He hit sixes in every direction; those were calculated hits. He knows what his strengths are, he waits for the ball. I am saying that the Indian team is not far away at all,” Virender Sehwag said of Rajat Patidar on Cricbuzz.
On the other hand, former Indian fast bowler Mohit Sharma also praised Patidar for batting brilliantly.
“He is batting brilliantly. Now the question for him is, how do you run things in the future? How can you play for India? How will the space be created?” former India pacer Mohit Sharma added.
Sehwag said RCB can not afford to be complacent after reaching their second straight IPL final.
“They can’t afford to relax just because they are in the final. They will have to prepare for it. It is to their benefit that they will be able to practice there for 2 days. The other team that will qualify for the final will not even get a chance to practice there, because they will have to travel on their break day. Also, RCB have played at that ground so many times, and have won the title there also,” Sehwag said.
RCB will play the IPL final on Sunday at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
