Rajat Patidar reveals ‘key secret’ that he mastered to combat spin proficiently

Rajat Patidar has mastered the art of playing spin in India like very few. The sheer dominion knitted together by the RCB skipper against the turners over the years have granted him a niche like never before. Amidst all the big heaves and hurls from the Madhya Pradesh batter, what lies at the heart of his tactics? What makes him a man who can boss spin with ease?

Talking on the RCB Podcast Bold and Beyond, Rajat Patidar opened up on his spin playing proficiency. Patidar said, “I think when I started playing at the club level, when I started my cricketing career, I think there were so many unprepared wickets. Wickets aren’t that great at the basic level. So I automatically developed the habit, if there is spin or turn, how to play it. I think from the starting itself the surfaces on which I have played, I think because of that, I can play spin very well.”

Revealing challenges against spin in domestic cricket, Patidar said, “When I was about to debut in Ranji Trophy at that point in time, we had a home-away format. At that time we used to make wickets according to our strength. At that time, we used to make spin friendly wickets because we had three good spinners. That very season I was about to make my debut in Ranji.”

He continued, “I knew that we were going to get a square turner here. So then I thought, if I play on this wicket, then how will I score runs on it? When we saw the first few games, the matches were getting over in 2-3 days. Such was the square turn on the surface. I was nervous as I was about to make my debut on a surface like that. I was young and there were other seniors like Naman Ojha, all used to play.”

Patidar continued, "From the analysis that I have done, I understood that if I needed to score runs here, I would have to do something. Because even if I am defending here, then I can get out anytime. That is when I came up with the idea of a sweep shot.”

He continued, “I started all preparations of playing a sweep shot on a rough pitch. I knew the technique about how to hit. I knew that whenever I get the ball, I am going to sweep that away. I would practice sweeps for 2-3 hours. I knew if I had to play there and score runs, then I would have to develop this shot. This is the shot, which I mean, on the turning track, you can put pressure on the bowler. That shot can be best played when the bowler is bowling in the good length area. So I think this change helped a lot in learning how to play spin.”