In the high-pressure Qualifier 1 encounter against Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Rajat Patidar played a sensational innings that helped RCB seal their place in the IPL 2026 final.
RCB Cricket Director Mo Bobat revealed this after the match Rajat Patidar He once became “pretty angry” with the RCB captain after he branded him a “spin-basher” in the dressing room. The comment, which was meant as a compliment, served as additional motivation for Patidar, who has now become one of the most complete T20 batsmen in the tournament.
Rajat Patidar takes RCB to IPL 2026 final
RCB once again performed strongly in the playoffs and a major reason behind this was their captain Rajat Patidar. In Qualifier 1 against Gujarat TitansThe right-hander displayed his maturity and destructive ability.
With RCB losing wickets after a strong start, Patidar initially focused on steadying the innings. At one time he was playing after scoring only 16 runs on 11 balls. However, once the RCB captain settled down, he completely changed the pace of the game with a brutal onslaught against the GT bowling attack.
Gujarat Titans’ bowling plans started failing in real time as the RCB skipper dismantled one of the strongest bowling attacks of IPL 2026. Notably, Rajat Patidar is currently the franchise’s second-highest run-scorer in IPL 2026 with 483 runs at an excellent strike rate of 196.76.
His consistency, fearless approach and leadership have made him one of the standout players of the tournament and fueled talks around potential India T20I selection.
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Mo Bobat told how Rajat Patidar got angry with him
After RCB’s win, Mo Bobt was all praise for Patidar and admitted that the captain has taken his game to another level this season.
“He’s obviously batting brilliantly at the moment and has done so throughout the competition. He was a really special innings today and I’m sure he’ll be really pleased to be standing in a big qualifier.”
“Any team whose captain is playing well gets more confidence from that. We are getting used to seeing these kind of innings from him now. He played some outrageous shots, but also really aggressive intent…who is leading by example,” Mo Babat said at the press conference.
The RCB Director of Cricket then shared an amusing incident from last season when the captain was irked by Patidar’s comments about his batting.
“I remember at some point last season I called him a spin-basher and I think he got a bit angry with me because I was saying it was only spin. He’s probably trying to prove a point to me now.”
“He has worked incredibly hard on his game with both DK [Dinesh Karthik] and andy [Flower]. One thing about Rajat is that he middles the ball a lot. Bobat said, whether it is pace or spin, front foot or back foot, the ball often hits the middle of his bat.
“That’s a really good sign in general. He has really strong fundamentals and fearless intentions. We’ve worked hard over the last few years to make that the identity of our team,” he said.
One thing he has done really well is choosing his moments – Mo Bobat on Rajat Patidar
While Patidar’s aggressive strokeplay has often grabbed the attention, Bobat believes the biggest improvement in the RCB skipper’s batting is his ability to understand match situations and pace his innings cleverly.
“One of the things he has done very well this year is choosing his moments. I remember the match against Rajasthan Royals,” he said. [RR] At the beginning of the season when we lost early wickets. He bore the pressure in the beginning and then shifted into gear. This requires real discipline and sophistication in your thinking.
Bobat said that Rajat Patidar had adopted a similar approach during the Qualifier 1 match against Gujarat Titans.
“It was the same today. After a good start from the top three, we lost a few wickets and he admittedly had a mini rebuilding moment before picking up the pace again. The ability to read situations and conditions, knowing when to go into top gear and when to drop one down has been a really impressive part of his development,” he concluded.
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