Rajat Patidar tried his best, playing quality knocks (112 not out and 58) in the Eliminator and Qualifier II, but the Royal Challengers Bangalore still couldn’t reach the final of IPL 2022.

But personally, Patidar has every reason to be pleased as he finished with the best average (55.50) in the RCB batting group.

His strike rate of 152.75 was equally impressive.

The job though has just begun for the 28-year-old top-order batsman, who aims to earn himself a Test berth in the future. “Well, it always feels good to contribute to the team’s cause, especially in a tournament like the IPL. But honestly, the success here doesn’t mean my life has changed. Not at all,” Patidar, now busy with preparations for Madhya Pradesh’s Ranji Trophy quarter final clash versus Punjab, told The Telegraph from Bangalore on Monday.

“Now I need to sort certain things out in my batting and sharpen my skills further in order to make myself an even better batsman. I’m just looking to follow my routine.”

From this IPL, the intensity of Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis has been a lesson for Patidar. “I didn’t get any specific advice as such from them. But their intensity, which could be noticed even during nets, is something I picked up and tried to implement in my game,” he stated.

Setting priorities

Patidar’s first-class average of 40.43 suggests he’s a stable and reliable batsman of the Madhya Pradesh team. In fact, red-ball cricket remains Patidar’s first priority.

“This will never change. I’ve done well so far in first-class cricket, but I want to do better and better so that in the long run, I go on to become a deserving candidate for Test match cricket. That’s the reason I focus purely on proper cricketing shots and not on the fancy ones as they are not my strength.

“Besides, you can score runs and get them quickly too even if you play only conventional strokes. So I don’t think improvised shots are a must. I believe I can scale bigger heights if I keep concentrating solely on my strengths,” Patidar emphasised.