Royal Challengers Bangalore wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik lavished huge praise on top-order batter Rajat Patidar's unbeaten 112 off 54 balls guiding them to a 14-run win over Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2022 Eliminator at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday. With Bangalore four down at 115/4, Patidar shifted gears seamlessly to reach his maiden IPL hundred off 49 deliveries in the 18th over, in a sensational knock laced with 12 fours and seven sixes. He and Karthik, who remained unbeaten at 37 off 25 balls, smacked 84 runs in the last five overs in carrying Bangalore to 207/4 in 20 overs. "It was probably the best innings by an uncapped player that I've seen. Outstanding batting. He is very cool, calm, and has a shy personality. It shows in his batting, you get the feeling that he is lazy but that is just his personality.
Lovely guy, hardworking with a shy personality. Rajat Patidar played some great shots and made my job easier, that's a key factor in a good team," said Karthik on RCB's Game Day segment video posted on the franchise's social media accounts. Patidar's enthralling knock, followed by Josh Hazlewood's 3/41 and Harshal Patel doing his thing in the death overs with 1/25 meant that Lucknow fell short by 14 runs to crash out of the tournament. More praise came for Patidar through alismanic batter Virat Kohli, who made 25 and shared a 66-run stand with Patidar for the second wicket. "That was one of the best innings I've ever seen under pressure by Rajat Patidar, and I've seen many. That level of striking in this game is some level of batting. Watch out for him!" With Bangalore now through to Qualifier 2, they will now meet inaugural IPL winners Rajasthan Royals in Ahmedabad on Friday. The winner of Qualifier 2 will face Gujarat Titans in the title clash on Sunday.