Patidar’s stormy half-century. (Photo- MPL)
Rajat Patidar, MPL 2026: Leaving behind the disappointment of not being selected in Team India, star batsman Rajat Patidar showed the real power of his bat on home soil. Patidar, who is captaining Gwalior Cheetahs in the Madhya Pradesh League (MPL) T20 Scindia Cup 2026, gave a strong message to the selectors by playing an explosive innings against Malwa Stallions. In this one-sided match played at Daly College Ground, Gwalior Cheetahs defeated Malwa Stallions by a huge margin of 51 runs.
Captain Patidar’s stormy half-century
After losing the toss in the match, Gwalior Cheetahs team came on the field to bat first. Captain Rajat Patidar was seen in a completely different mood in this match. He destroyed the opposition bowlers and scored his first half-century in MPL. Patidar played a blazing inning of 65 runs in just 30 balls, hitting shots all around the field, which included 6 skyscraper fours and 4 brilliant sixes.
Apart from Patidar, opener Parth Chaudhary contributed 38 runs in 34 balls, while Mangesh Yadav scored unbeaten 33 runs in just 17 balls, taking the team’s score to 190 runs for 7 wickets in 20 overs. For Malwa Stallions, Vineet Rawat bowled best and took 4 wickets and Harshvardhan Singh got 3 wickets.
Malwa stallions scattered like cards
The team of Malwa Stallions, which came to chase the huge target of 191 runs, disintegrated under pressure. Gwalior bowlers kept taking wickets continuously, due to which Malwa team could never allow any big partnership to develop. Rakesh Thakur (33 runs) and Ansh Yadav (30 runs) definitely raised some hopes with their aggressive innings, but due to lack of support from any batsman from the other end, the entire team was reduced to just 139 runs in 17.1 overs.
For Gwalior Cheetahs, Ishan Afridi and Soumya Pandey bowled lethally and took 3 wickets each. Akash Raghuvanshi and Mangesh Yadav also achieved success at important times. At the same time, captain Rajat Patidar, who laid a strong foundation for the team’s victory, was awarded the title of ‘Player of the Match’ for his magical innings.
