After impressing with the white-ball, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Rajat Patidar gave an exemplary display of his sheer batting mettle in red-ball cricket by slamming a whirlwind century in the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2025. Stepping in as leader of the Central Zone after regular captain Dhruv Jurel was ruled out at the penultimate moment due to a groin niggle for the clash against East Zone, Patidar shouldered the responsibility magnificently by leading the team from the front with an 80-ball century.
SLK
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SKA
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TKR
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BR
–
SWDM
–
GGDM
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ADKRDM
–
DCDM
–
NDS
–
NDT
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
CLZ
432/2
NEZ
–
NTZ
308/6
EZ
–
LKLS
–
CLJ
–
ACB
–
TSA
–
ACB
–
CLJ
–
LKLS
–
CLJ
–
ACB
–
TSA
–
TSA
–
CLJ
–
BAC
–
CLJ
–
LKLS
–
TSA
–
TSA
–
CLJ
–
BAC
–
LKLS
–
HUN
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SRB
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HUN
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CRO
–
SOM
–
GLO
–
HAM
–
MID
–
DEN
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KWT
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PNG
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JER
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NAM
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SCOT
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BAN
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IND
–
Match Called off
KZK
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KUMS
–
KBTS
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ATR
–
ARKS
–
ALRS
–
TTS
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ARKS
–
CAGS
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ALRS
–
HBT
–
MGD
–
ROS
–
YSG
–
MAT
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IAI
–
MUT
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RNC
–
YSG
–
MAT
–
ZIM
–
SL
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SGR
24/4
RLS
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UOQ
–
WYN
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SSC
–
SBB
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VLLY
–
WSS
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NSBB
–
UOQ
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GCT
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SSC
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SOB
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WEF
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SBW-W
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WFW-W
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AFG
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PAK
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KASS
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LUF
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NOSK
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KARS
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GOLS
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MEMA
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KASS
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NOSK
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He got to the three-digit mark with the help of 18 fours and two sixes. Notably, it was the Madhya Pradesh batter’s 14th ton in first-class cricket. Earlier, he brought up his half-century in just 42 balls. At the time of writing this report, Patidar is still at the crease with his score reading 111 runs off 86 balls, striking at a rate of 120+ andd have added two more boundaries to his kitty.
The dynamic right-hander’s brilliance will put him in the radar of national selectors ahead of the home Test season. Notably, India are slated to play two Tests against West Indies in October followed by a couple more games against South Africa in November.
The 32-year-old, who made his Test debut early in 2024 during England’s visit to India can find himself in the reckoning for a possible spot in the squad again if he can manage to impress further in the Duleep Trophy 2025.
Even if not the main squad, Patidar can be a strong candidate to feature in the India A side and make his case for a Test cricket return.
In the three Tests that he has represented India so far, Patidar has scored 63 runs with a highest score of 32.
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In the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season, Patidar looked in decent touch scoring runs consistently. In the 11 innings played in, Rajat Patidar scored 529 runs at 48.09. He also had a century and couple of fities to his name.
Speaking about his overall numbers in FC cricket, Rajat has close to 5k runs (4738 @43.07) and an impressive 14 centuries anf 24 half-centuries.
