Rajat Patidar vs Shubman Gill: Two Destinies Collide in IPL Final Showdown

Rajat vs Shubman: On different paths of cricketing destiny, RCB, GT skippers got points to prove in IPL final

Ahmedabad, May 31

The title clash between RCB and GT could shake up the future of India's T20I future as a Madhya Pradesh domestic veteran and the 'Prince' of Indian cricket clash.

While Patidar has long been a promising T20I prospect, he has not found his place in an overcrowded space of hard-hitting batters despite his exceptional hitting. On the other hand is a fired-up Gill, viewed as the heir apparent to Virat Kohli's legacy, the next all-format superstar and captain. But his T20I numbers forced him out of the Indian side just before the T20 World Cup this year.

This season, Patidar is enjoying a season of a lifetime as a middle-order batter, having made 486 runs in 14 matches and 13 innings at an average of 44.18 and a strike rate of 196.76, with five fifties, including a brutal 33-ball 93* against GT in Qualifier one.

His IPL playoff record is even more exceptional, with 338 runs in six matches at an average of 112.66 and a strike rate of 193.14, including a century and two fifties, with the best score of 112*.

Since India's T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal debacle, where they lost to England by 10 wickets, starting India's experiment with newer, more hard-hitting players, Rajat has scored 1,908 runs at an average of 34.07 and a strike rate of 171.42, with 19 fifties in 67 matches and 61 innings and a best score of 93*.

In this period, only Abhishek Sharma (195.92) has done better than Rajat in terms of strike rate.

Patidar's resume also includes a title-winning season with RCB (312 runs in 14 matches with a strike rate of 143.78 and two fifties), a runners-up finish with Madhya Pradesh in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) (428 runs in 9 matches at a strike rate of 186.09 with five fifties) and this title clash against GT, where he could secure back-to-back IPL titles, further proving his leadership skill. With Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav's future not clear, a back-to-back IPL title wins as captain could lift Rajat's status in the Indian cricket corridors plenty of notches.

But despite that, Rajat is yet to earn a T20I cap for Team India, having played just three Tests and an ODI for India.

On the other side is Gill, who had an underwhelming run in T20Is after returning to the T20Is set up during the Asia Cup as a vice-captain, with just 291 runs in 15 innings at an average of 24.25 and a strike rate of over 137, with a best score of 47. This led to him being dropped from the T20 side and he watched India win their back-to-back titles from the sidelines.

Gill has responded with his most fiery IPL season yet, with 722 runs at an average of 48.13 and a career-high strike rate of 163.71, including a century and six fifties, with 33 sixes, the joint-most he has hit in a season. With 105 boundary shots, including 72 fours in 441 balls, he has a boundary per ball ratio of 4.2, his best in an IPL season ever.

Despite his poor T20I numbers last year, Gill has been exceptional in the IPL since 2023, emerging as the top-run-getter with 2,688 runs in 59 matches and innings at an average of 49.77 and a strike rate of 157.1, with five centuries and 18 fifties and best score of 129, over Virat Kohli (2,637 runs in 59 matches), Sai Sudharsan (2,358 runs in 51 matches), Yashasvi Jaiswal (2,046 runs in 60 matches) and Heinrich Klaasen (2,038 runs in 57 matches), with his balls per boundary shot ratio being 4.7, the third-best among them.

The century against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the eliminator made him the first captain to slam an IPL playoff ton and the only player with two IPL playoff centuries. In IPL playoffs, he has made 581 runs in 13 appearances at an average of 48.41 and a strike rate of 149.74, with two centuries and a fifty.

Which captain will come out on top?

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Venkatesh Iyer, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Salam Dar, Romario Shepherd, Suyash Sharma, Kanishk Chouhan, Abhinandan Singh, Jordan Cox, Philip Salt, Richard Gleeson, Swapnil Singh, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra, Mangesh Yadav, Satvik Deswal

Gujarat Titans Squad: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Nishant Sindhu, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Kumar Kushagra, Arshad Khan, Luke Wood, Connor Esterhuizen, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Shahrukh Khan, Kulwant Khejroliya, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Ashok Sharma.

— ANI