Former Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan lavished praise on Rajat Patidar after Royal Challengers Bengaluru registered an 18-run win against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday. Patidar scored a blistering knock of 53 runs off just 20 balls with the help of four fours and five sixes.
The RCB skipper was able to hit the ground running and took the MI bowlers to the cleaners from the get-go. Thus, he played an instrumental role in helping RCB post an above-par score of 240 runs on the board.
Patidar was on 44 runs off just 11 balls at one stage but could not match Yuvraj Singh’s record of fastest of 12-ball T20 fifty.
Zaheer Khan said on Cricbuzz, “He is making all the difference in those middle overs. When the powerplay is out, the game slows down, but we have seen from Rajat consistently he is able to play this sort of an innings. He may not get fifty all the time, but his approach is not to get fifty, his approach is to set that intent right, put bowlers under pressure, and look for those big shots.”
The former Indian pacer hailed Krunal Pandya, who returned with impressive figures of 1-26 in his quota of four overs.
“He bowled the tough overs. He came on to bowl in the powerplay, had a specific plan, using his bumper very well. It doesn’t feel very normal to see a spinner using the bumper well, but he has used it to good effect, used the low-arm deliveries as well, and he was varying his pace very nicely. He kept the batter guessing and was one step ahead of the batter,” Zaheer remarked.
The 2011 World Cup winning bowler said MI’s confidence would have taken a hit after the loss against RCB at home.
He concluded, “Home games are something which they really bank on; that’s where the comeback starts. If you have had losses in the away games, you come back and start to get on a roll from there. So, from that point of view, this is going to be a big hit to deal with for them.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru will next take on Lucknow Super Giants at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, on Wednesday.
