Rajat Patidar has been ruled out of the highly anticipated match between RCB and Punjab Kings which is scheduled for Dharamsala today, and Jitesh Sharma has been appointed as captain for the game. Jitesh Sharma has been selected as the wicketkeeper-batter captain for Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s match against Punjab Kings at Dharamsala, where middle-order batter Rajat Patidar is found unfit for the game.
Rajat Patidar’s absence will come across the net at a crucial moment as RCB move towards a potent run in the post-qualifiers. The Bengaluru franchise joined the fray after a key plate-spinning victory over Kolkata Knight Riders, which then put them in the lead position in the IPL points table for a while.
Jitesh Sharma at the toss said Patidar was “doing wonderful now” and “hopefully skipper would come back for next game” in Hyderabad. Patidar’s omission has driven up questions as he had suffered a hard hit to the back of his head from Kartik Tyagi in the last game against KKR. Patidar later claimed that he was “fine” but it was reported that he was not one of the team that went to Dharamsala.
RCB will feel the impact of Patidar’s absence as a big middle-order batsman as well as an impact skipper. He’s been one of the team’s best performers so far this season on behalf of the middle-order batters and been one of the calmest leaders during pressure situations as well.
RCB, on the other hand, have to ponder on changing their order and leadership in the field in a crucial away test, as Jitesh Sharma will be captaining the team in his absence. In Dharamsala, every factor could work in favour of the fast bowlers early in the innings but switch to favour the batters later.