In February, Rajat Patidar was one of the many players who went unsold in the mega-auctions prior to the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Patidar, who made his IPL debut for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) last season, found no takers despite setting his base price at a meagre INR 20 Lakh.
It didn't raise many eyebrows as the right-handed batsman failed to seize his opportunity last year, managing just 71 runs in 4 innings at an average of 17.75 and a strike rate of 114.51.
On Wednesday, May 25th, Patidar played one of the all-time great IPL innings (112* off 54) in front of a packed Eden Gardens in Kolkata to set up RCB for a potential win in the Eliminator against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
Patidar chose the best possible time to showcase his talent to the absolute hilt, smashing the LSG attack, especially their spinners, into pieces, courtesy of an assault that one had to watch live to believe it.
The 28-year-old came out to bat at the worst possible time: In front of a packed Eden, against Mohsin Khan who was breathing fire and had just taken out his skipper Faf du Plessis for a duck.
He had the legendary Virat Kohli for company, who initially took on the aggressor's role. But once Patidar got his eye in, he was unstoppable.
The Indore-born cricketer had previously dominated a partnership featuring Kohli. That was against the Gujarat Titans (GT), where he blazed away with a 32-ball 52 while Virat meandered his way to 53-ball 58.
On Wednesday night, Patidar once again spearheaded the partnership as he laid into Krunal Pandya in the last over of the powerplay, smashing the left-arm orthodox for two consecutive fours and followed up by a six and a four respectively.
Kohli eventually departed for 24-ball 25, and Glenn Maxwell too joined him soon as Pandya dismissed him after making a 9-ball 10.
Patidar, meanwhile, continued in his merry way. The right-hander brought his half-century in 28 deliveries to become only the 5th RCB batter to score 50+ in a playoff fixture.
The real onslaught from him came when Dinesh Karthik joined him in the middle following the dismissal of Mahipal Lomror.
Ravi Bishnoi, who had bowled economically in his first three overs, came onto bowl as soon as Karthik came to the crease.
However, he ran into a red-hot Patidar, who went on to smash him for three sixes and a couple of fours off five consecutive deliveries.
The Madhya Pradesh batter brought up his maiden T20 hundred in stunning fashion as he disdainfully pulled Mohsin Khan for a maximum over mid-wicket. He joined the elite list of cricketers who have scored a ton in a playoff fixture.
The list includes Virender Sehwag (PBKS vs CSK, Q2 2014), Murali Vijay (CSK v DC, Q2 2012), Wriddhiman Saha (PBKS v KKR, F 2014) and Shane Watson (CSK v SRH, F 2018).
Patidar is the first uncapped cricketer to score a ton in the IPL playoffs, and his 54-ball 112* guided RCB to 207/4 in 20 overs.