Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) suffered a huge blow when Rajat Patidar got ruled out for the entirety of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 due to injury. The batter took to his social media handle to share an emotional message for the RCB fans after getting ruled out of the ongoing season.
Earlier, it was expected that the Madhya Pradesh batter will be playing for the franchise in the second half of the tournament. However, the 29-year-old will not feature this season after suffering an Achilles Heel injury upon which he decided to share an Instagram story, stating that he would ‘miss’ the fans at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
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“I will miss the red and gold army at Chinnaswamy: No matter where I am, I will always cheer for you. Until next time,” Rajat Patidar shared on his Instagram handle.
Notably, the RCB batter witnessed a phenomenal outing in the 2022 season as he aggregated 333 runs in eight outings and laced it with two half-centuries and one ton.
Faf du Plessis and Co. started off their campaign with a dominating victory over Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians on Sunday, April 2. The side will aim to continue their fine form against Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday, April 6 at the iconic Eden Gardens.
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Interestingly, it’s the same venue where injured Rajat notched up his maiden IPL century in the league last edition against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Eliminator. Though RCB will miss his services in the ongoing season, the rest of the unit will be vying to maintain consistency and fight hard for the coveted title.
Keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik played in the No. 3 spot in Rajat’s absence in the first match against Mumbai. However, he is likely to play his natural role which is that of a finisher. The franchise is yet to replace Rajat, however, Anuj Rawat, Suyash Prabhudessai, and Mahipal Lomror are a few options for the side to fill the void in the batting order.
