Madhya Pradesh batter Rajat Patidar has undergone a metamorphosis in 2022. A series of events have made this year a roller coaster ride for the 29-year-old. He is now about to achieve the crowning glory of his career so far by playing for the Indian national team.
Manohar Patidar, father of Rajat, shared some details about his son’t journey to his current status in Indian cricket.
After he went unsold in the IPL 2022 auction, Rajat Patidar was picked as a replacement for the injured Luvnith Sisodia in RCB. He then had to postpone his marriage in May to join the team in Mumbai.
The talented batsman then scored a splendid century against LSG in the Eliminator. In the Ranji Trophy, he finished as the highest run-getter for MP as part of their maiden Ranji Trophy title-winning season. Lastly, he recently earned his first call-up to the India squad for South Africa ODIs.
All this shows how Rajat Patidar chased his dreams while clinging to patience, tranquillity, and determination. Hereafter, 2022 will be seen as a turning-point for the player.
Patidar’s unbeaten 112 against KL Rahul and his men was the quickest century scored by an uncapped player in the IPL. He scored 122 and 30 not out in the Ranji Trophy 2022 final against Mumbai to end the tournament with 658 runs in nine innings at 82.85, only behind the prodigious Sarfaraz Khan (982 at 122.75).
While playing for the India A side, Rajat Patidar hit two centuries -176 & 109*- in four innings against New Zealand A in the unofficial Test series staged in Karnataka.
“We are not surprised” – Rajat Patidar’s father on his son’s selection for the Indian national team
Manohar Patidar, father of Rajat, was certain about his son representing India from the moment he made his Ranji debut for Madhya Pradesh in 2015.
“He has been playing Ranji cricket for some time now, and we knew he would play ahead of that. We are not surprised or overwhelmed by his selection, it is very normal for us,” Manohar Patidar told Sportskeeda.
He added:
“Since he started playing Ranji, I was very sure that he will go way forward (in his career). I was aware of this (selection) from the way he adopted his playing technique in the beginning. He made some good runs, and even if you look at his recent innings for India A, he performed very well.”
While talking about his son’s dedication to cricket, Manohar said Rajat didn’t think beyond his training days when he started. The father of the cricketer said there was no pressure from the family on matters related to his game.
“We never put any pressure on him by setting any targets like you must score these many runs. Everything is normal when he is at home like he has not let the success get into his head. He behaves normally just the way he used to before playing cricket,” Manohar said.
The senior Patidar also talked about his son’s dedication to the game.
“Since I enrolled him in a coaching club, he wasn’t interested in anything else apart from cricket. Somehow, he managed to clear his 12th standard. His movement was restricted from home to the ground (for practice) and vice versa. He had no other interests like going out for parties or hanging out with friends. He was very disciplined with his training and never compromised on it.”
Rajat Patidar could earn his India cap during the first ODI against South Africa on October 6 in Lucknow.
