Tale Of Two Halves: How Is Rajat Patidar's Woeful Form Taking Toll On RCB?

Why RCB needs Rajat Patidar back in form [Source: @iplt20.com]

Tuesday, May 27 is a big day for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) as they take on the Lucknow Super Giants and the game holds utmost importance for the Rajat Patidar led Bengaluru team. If they defeat LSG, then the side will finish in top 2 and will get two chances to qualify for the finals.

However, the task won't be an easy affair since RCB lost their last match Vs Sunrisers Hyderabad and will be up against an LSG team which has nothing to lose and they will come out all guns blazing. Apart from this, the team also needs to worry about the form of their skipper, Rajat Patidar. He started out the tournament with string of high scores and then everything went downhill.

Patidar's IPL 2025 journey in two halves

Patidar's stats in first 4 matches

As the numbers tell the story, Patidar started on the front-foot, dominating the bowlers and playing match-winning innings. In the first 4 matches, he slammed 161 runs, with a strike rate of 175 as the captain of the team showed his class in the new role given to him. However, then came the dip in form.

Patidar's stats in next 7 matches

In the next 7 matches, Patidar suffered a dip in form as he only mustered 96 runs in 7 games, with a strike rate barely crossing 100. In the last match against SRH, the captain of the team looked out of touch as RCB bottled an easy chase.

Why Is Patidar so important for RCB's title chances?

Some day or the other, RCB's deadly opening pair, Virat Kohli and Phil Salt will fail and the team cannot be dependant on the duo in every game. They need Rajat Patidar to fire, not only against LSG, but also in remaining matches.

Barring Kohli, he is RCB's best batter and the team needs their skipper to be at his best in the upcoming matches.

Plus, the franchise will hope he fires all guns blazing Vs LSG as the batter even smacked his maiden IPL century against them in the 2022 Eliminator.

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