After the fourth ball of the 17th over bowled by Kagiso Rabada, Virat Kohli held his extended lower jaw in pure amazement. He could scarcely believe that a length ball delivered by the Gujarat Titans pacer had been deposited into the stands at extra cover. You wouldn’t get a more glowing review of that shot than this gobsmacked expression from the legend. The architect of that piece of brilliance was Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar.

The 32-year-old scored an unbeaten 93 off just 33 balls to outbat the opposition in IPL 2026 Qualifier 1 to take his side closer to the prospect of a second successive title. Patidar played out just a solitary dot ball in his game-changing knock.

“When we lost those couple of wickets (Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal), after a good start from the top three, it meant that we had a little bit of time just to do a little rebuild and then go again. Rajat recognising those moments and deciding when to shift the gears, that takes a real level of discipline and sophistication to your thinking and your planning,” said Mo Bobat, RCB’s director of cricket.

“One of the things about Rajat is he tends to middle the ball quite often. Whether he’s facing pace bowling, spin bowling, off the front or back foot, the ball hits the middle of his bat quite a lot. He’s got some really good and sound basics and a pretty fearless intent, which is great to see,” Bobat added.