New Delhi [India], March 29: Rajat Patidar, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain, joined Virat Kohli in an exclusive club after scoring 51 runs in the match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Friday, March 28. With this half-century, Patidar has etched his name in the history of RCB, becoming one of the few captains to score 50-plus runs at Chepauk, Chennai.
Patidar’s half-century follows in the footsteps of Virat Kohli, who had achieved this milestone back in 2013. Patidar first gained widespread attention during the 2022 IPL eliminator, where he scored a brilliant century against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), becoming the first uncapped player to score a century in an IPL playoff. Despite missing out on the 2023 season due to injuries, Patidar made a stellar comeback in IPL 2024 and was named the RCB captain ahead of IPL 2025.
In the match, CSK won the toss and opted to field first, giving RCB an opportunity to bat. Phil Salt provided a strong start, hitting Ravichandran Ashwin for two fours and a six in the second over. However, Virat Kohli struggled to connect with the ball, facing difficulty against both pacers and spinners. Devdutt Padikkal was dismissed for a brief but valuable knock of 27 off 14 balls, which included two fours and two sixes, after Ruturaj Gaikwad caught him off an Ashwin delivery.
Noor Ahmad (3/36) was the standout bowler for CSK, with Pathirana picking up two wickets, while Ashwin and Khaleel Ahmed each claimed one.
Chennai Super Kings Squad:
Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Matheesha Pathirana, Noor Ahmad, Ravichandran Ashwin, Devon Conway, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Sam Curran, Shaik Rashid, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary, Deepak Hooda, Gurjanpreet Singh, Nathan Ellis, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishnan Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal, Vansh Bedi, Andre Siddarth.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad:
Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Rasikh Salam, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethel, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee.