Rajat Patidar scored 30 runs off 19 balls against spin © BCCI/IPL The key aspect of the build-up of a high-octane clash between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru was the latter’s dismal record at the former’s “den”, with the lone win in nine previous attempts dating back to 2008. Moreover, CSK had aced their tried and tested template in their season opener: the spinners, led by Noor Ahmad, setting it up for a rather comfortable win against MI. In fact, it took them one game to match their spin wickets tally at home from the entirety of last season: 5 wickets at 55.4 from 40 overs to as many in 11 overs. RCB’s middle-overs stutter in the recent editions was characterised by the lack of consistent power-hitting against spin, with Rajat Patidar being the lone standout batter. Among RCB’s top eight batters, only the skipper had a notable improvement in strike-rate against spin (196.49) to that against pace (164) in the IPL since 2023. The corresponding numbers stood alarmingly low for some of their other batters: Virat Kohli (167.61 vs 124.77), Devdutt Padikkal (125.92 vs 103.96), Liam Livingstone (207.48 vs 93.45) and Tim David (173.1 vs 100). It did help RCB that Phil Salt pounced when Ashwin missed his length thrice in the second over of the innings, and Devdutt Padikkal got a favourable matchup against Ravindra Jadeja later, while Kohli at the other end struggled at less than run-a-ball. Patidar then took 30 off the 19 balls he faced from spin, smashing two fours and as many sixes off Noor and Jadeja combined. As it turned out, RCB managed 95 runs from nine overs of spin, with Tim David’s late flourish powering them to a match-winning total. RCB batters vs spin in Match 8 Patidar: 30 off 19 | Padikkal: 18 off 9 | Salt: 16 off 6 | Kohli: 14 off 14 | Livingstone: 7 off 4 | Jitesh: 7 off 2 Patidar has been one of the best strikers against spin in the IPL in recent times. The methodology is uncomplicated: no conventional sweeps or the reverse, no scoops or cuts: the slog being a productive stroke – with the turn or against it – with a staggering 67.74% of his runs coming between the square leg to long-on region, and another 14.71% towards mid-off. All but three of his 39 sixes against spin have come across these zones. Best SR vs spin in the IPL since 2023 (min. 100 balls faced) Player Runs BF SR Ave Dot% Bnd% Abhishek Sharma 294 149 197.31 32.66 24.6 27.51 Rajat Patidar 254 133 190.97 127 23.7 24.81 Heinrich Klaasen 503 270 186.29 62.87 22.5 23.33 Nicholas Pooran 392 218 179.81 98 31 24.77 Tristan Stubbs 183 105 174.28 45.75 22.2 20.95 Though differently built, Patidar’s method in a way has been similar to that of Pooran, using his reach off the front-foot or sans any feet movement to nearly 60% of the deliveries from spin, unlike Heinrich Klaasen, who prefers to strike it off the back-foot against 50.5% of them. Abhishek Sharma has a wider range, with an almost even split on front-foot (40.1%) and back-foot (38.8%), while going down the track once in every six balls (16.4%). Patidar’s scoring zones vs spin in the IPL Scoring zone Runs Percentage Dismissals (caught) 4s 6s fine leg 4 0.86% 0 0 0 backward square leg 18 3.9% 0 0 1 forward square leg 136 29.43% 1 2 13 mid-on 177 38.31% 3 6 16 mid-off 68 14.71% 1 2 7 covers 39 8.44% 0 4 2 backward point 6 1.3% 0 1 0 fine third man 14 3.03% 0 3 0 After two emphatic away wins, RCB will be back to Chinnaswamy next, against a spin-attack led by Rashid Khan. They could draw further confidence from their last year’s fixtures against the opponent, when they gunned down the 201 and 148-run targets in 16 and 13.4 overs, respectively enroute their dramatic run to the playoffs. Rashid returned 0/76 from 5.4 overs combined across those two outings.
