Madhya Pradesh batter Rajat Patidar is making Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) take notice of him at the right time. The right-handed batter smashed one of the fastest centuries in the history of Ranji Trophy during his side’s third-round match against Haryana on Tuesday.
Patidar’s knock comes two days ahead of the upcoming IPL player retention deadline, where every franchise must reveal their final retention picks.
Coming out to bat at No.3 on the final day of the Ranji Trophy match against Haryana, Rajat Patidar brought up his ton in only 68 balls, breaking the previous Madhya Pradesh record held by Naman Ojha, who had registered a ton off 69 balls against Karnataka in 2015.
Rajat Patidar eventually played a knock of 159 off just 102 balls, with the help of 13 fours and seven sixes. He had a strike rate of 155.88 during his whirlwind knock.
Overall, it is Rishabh Pant who holds the record for smashing the fastest Ranji Trophy century. He had brought up his ton in just 48 balls.
Himachal Pradesh batter Shakti Singh is reported to have scored a 45-ball century in 1990 against Haryana, however, it was not recorded officially due to lack of proper documentation.
Will RCB retain Rajat Patidar?
Ahead of the upcoming player retention deadline, it needs to be seen whether RCB retains Rajat Patidar or not. Virat Kohli and Mohammed Siraj seem as the sure-shot retentions, but whether the franchise retains other players such as Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal and Akash Deep needs to be seen.
In IPL 2024, Rajat Patidar played 15 matches for RCB, scoring 395 runs at a strike rate of 177.13. During the latter part of the season, the right-handed batter took a special liking to spinners.
Speaking of Patidar, the 31-year-old had made his Test debut earlier this year against England. However, he failed to leave a mark, scoring just 63 runs in six innings.
He was then dropped from the Test squad. Patidar has also been overlooked for the upcoming India A series against Australia A, beginning October 31.
Patidar had come to limelight during Madhya Pradesh’s Ranji Trophy winning season in 2021-22, where he scored 658 runs in nine innings with two hundreds and five fifties.
Patidar was also the star of the final against Mumbai, scoring 122 and 30 not out in a six-wicket victory.
