Ahmedabad, Jun 1: Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s second IPL title win came on Rajat Patidar’s 33rd birthday but more than that happy coincidence the skipper was pleased with his team’s start-to-end domination in the league.
RCB were an unstoppable force from the opening match where they decimated Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
That bull run reached its logical conclusion at the Narendra Modi Stadium with a five-wicket win over Gujarat Titans in the IPL final on Sunday.
“To be honest, last year was a lot of pressure. This year was more calm because of the way we played throughout the tournament. I think we have not just played, we dominated this year,” said Patidar in the post-match press conference.
“So we were pretty much confident that if we are playing like this, we are definitely going to win the second title for RCB,” he added.
He also sent out a cold message for contenders — RCB are far from finished.
“It is the best gift because it is my birthday today (Sunday). It feels good overall, but as an individual, I try to stay in the present. We will have to focus more on how we can do three in a row,” he said.
RCB’s title defence was a collective effort, but the imprint of Patidar as a captain and batter was unmistakable.
The Madhya Pradesh cricketer explained how he led RCB quietly, a visible departure from the in-your-face style of his predecessors Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis.
“You know, my way of captaincy is different. I am not that expressive, but at the same time I am aware of the game situation. Of course, you need a backing. As I said, there was a lot of backing by the management and the players as well,” he said.
The right-hander also improved his batting by leaps and bounds this season, reflected aptly in his 501 runs at a strike-rate of 192.69 in this IPL.
“I understand how much time I am giving myself in batting because it is important to understand your batting. Before coming to the IPL, I did a proper net session.
“I communicated a lot with (RCB mentor) DK bhai (Dinesh Karthik) about how I could do more, some trigger movements, technical changes, etc. Then I came here and continued that. I got a lot of clarity from the execution as a batsman,” he explained.
Patidar could not stop gushing about the contribution senior batter Virat Kohli made to their second title win in as many years.
“I don’t have words to explain him. Virat Kohli is used to doing great things. He is a great player. Everyone knows him, the way he bats.
“We all have the opportunity to learn from him on the field, off the field,” said Patidar.
Kohli made an unbeaten 75 to marshal RCB’s chase of 156 in the final, and overall the 37-year-old had another rollicking season, scoring 675 runs with a hundred and five fifties.
He was the highest run-getter for RCB in this IPL season.
“We spend a lot of time together at breakfast. We try to learn from him, whatever he says regarding cricket or off the field. He is going to players and talking a lot about cricket. That is superb,” Patidar said.
“I always keep watching him, what he does on the field, off the field, in the nets. One thing I learned is that his energy in the nets is similar to while he is playing the match,” he said. (PTI)
