Shayan Ahmad Khan, Jarrod Kimber
Royal Challengers Bangalore had lost seven out of their first eight games in IPL 2024. A playoff spot started resembling a mirage. They needed to start winning a whole lot of games, and needed a few other results to go in their favour too. Incredibly, they did just that, going on a tear of five wins in a row. Now, before their final league match, suddenly a playoff spot is within RCB’s reach.
Rajat Patidar’s contribution in those five wins was immense. He scored 159 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 203.8. In these matches, he made three half-centuries — 50 off 20 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad, 55 off 23 balls against Punjab Kings, and 52 off 32 balls against Delhi Capitals.
He did not have a great start to the season, scoring only 50 runs in his first four innings. But even in RCB’s losing streak, he played a couple of terrific knocks against Mumbai Indians (50 off 26 balls) and Kolkata Knight Riders (52 off 23 balls). The innings against KKR gave his side a real chance to chase down 223 runs at the Eden Gardens, but they eventually lost by just one run.
In fact, that was not even Patidar’s only significant performance at the Eden Gardens in his short IPL career. He stroked an unbeaten 112 off just 54 balls against Lucknow Supergiants in the Eliminator in 2022. Although Patidar made his IPL debut in 2021, he made everyone take notice in the 2022 edition.
Coming in as a replacement for Luvnith Sisodia, he played only seven innings. But he scored 333 runs at an average of 55.5 and a strike rate of 152.75. Note that this was the season before the impact substitute rule came in, so striking at over 150 was pretty special for most players. Especially if you were an uncapped domestic player.
Patidar was a lot better against the quicks in 2022, having a true average of 58.93 and a true strike rate of 4.69. This season though, his numbers against pace are in the wrong quadrant. He doesn’t score much slower than normal as a true strike rate of -0.66 suggests, but he has a true average of -14.66, so he’s been getting out to pacers a lot more frequently than expected.
But let’s explore his game against spin in more depth. His true values suggest that he has been a clear outlier in terms of his scoring rate against the tweakers in both seasons. He had a true strike rate of 44.1 but at a true average of -5.92 in 2022. That has now gone up to 72.34 and 53.08 respectively.
Patidar has hit 20 sixes off 81 deliveries against spin in IPL 2024. And 15 of those sixes have come in just 48 balls of legspin. Among batters that have faced at least 50 balls of spin this season, his strike rate of 224.69 is second to only Abhishek Sharma’s 239.19. He has scored quicker than even Heinrich Klaasen, who strikes at 198.68.
We know that certain batters prefer the ball turning in a particular direction. Against Patidar, that hasn’t really mattered much this season. Both Abhishek and Patidar have a strike rate of over 200 against balls turning in, and away. (Note: there may be a slight change in numbers depending on how a ball spinning away or into the batter is defined, but it is for a very small subset of balls. The essence of the numbers – and Patidar’s proficiency against balls spinning either way – remains the same.)
Let’s have a look at his strike rates by length compared to the other batters this season. He has faced only three back of a length balls, one full toss and two yorkers – scoring 16 runs off those six deliveries without being dismissed. He scores at more than 2.5 runs a ball when it is in the slot, and has a strike rate north of 200 against full balls. Even against balls in the good length area, his strike rate is 185. The combined figure for all other batters in IPL 2024 for good length balls is 141.24, which shows how much better than the average Patidar has been even here.
This pitch map tells us a story. There is no line or length that actually stops him.
Patidar has faced 80 balls in the 81-105 kmph range, and has attacked 75% of these deliveries. The only speed range when he scores at under two runs a ball is 96-100 kmph, scoring 28 off 16 balls without being dismissed.
If weather permits and we get a full match, Patidar will be key against CSK’s spinners. Even in a rain-shortened fixture, his six-hitting abilities could play an important role.
Stats from Cricmetric and Howstat. True stats by Varun Alvakonda (All stats as of May 15, 2024).
