Dharamshala, May 26: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Rajat Patidar delivered an outstanding performance in the IPL 2026 Qualifier-1 against Gujarat Titans (GT), scoring an unbeaten 93 runs off just 33 balls. His explosive innings included 9 sixes and 5 fours.
In his IPL career, Patidar has played 6 playoff matches, amassing a total of 338 runs at an impressive average of 112.66 and a strike rate of 193.14. During these matches, he has recorded 1 century and 2 half-centuries. Notably, he has hit 24 sixes and 25 fours in these 6 games, placing him behind only Suresh Raina (40), MS Dhoni (28), and Kieron Pollard (25) for the most sixes in IPL knockout matches.
Since 2021, Patidar has exclusively represented RCB. In 2022, he scored an unbeaten 112 runs off 54 balls against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Eliminator match, followed by a quick 58 runs off 42 balls in Qualifier-2 against Rajasthan Royals.
In the IPL 2024 Eliminator, Patidar scored 34 runs off 22 balls against Rajasthan Royals. Under his captaincy, RCB clinched their first IPL title in 2025. That season, he contributed 15 runs off 8 balls in Qualifier-1 against Punjab Kings and scored 26 runs off 16 balls in the final against the same team.
In the ongoing IPL 2026 Qualifier-1 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, RCB posted a total of 254 runs, losing 5 wickets. Besides Patidar’s remarkable innings, Virat Kohli and Krunal Pandya each contributed 43 runs. For the opposition, Kagiso Rabada and Jason Holder took 2 wickets each, while Prasidh Krishna secured 1 wicket.
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