Rajat Patidar slams century on debut as MP's all-format captain
What's the story
Rajat Patidar, the new all-format captain of Madhya Pradesh, played a stellar knock in the side's 2025/26 Ranji Trophy campaign. He slammed a century against Punjab at Indore's Emerald Heights International School Ground. Patidar's impressive ton took MP past 300 in response to 232 by Punjab in the first innings. He reached his 16th First-Class ton before stumps on Day 2. He replaced Shubham Sharma as skipper ahead of this domestic season.
Knock
Patidar leads from the front
Despite a positive start, MP lost Harsh Gawali (8), Yash Dubey (23), and Himanshu Mantri (40) before the 100-run mark. From 98/3, Shubham Sharma and Patidar propelled the side past 150. While the former's innings was cut short at 41, Patidar joined forces with Venkatesh Iyer. With MP crossing 300, Venkatesh (73) and Kumar Kartikeya (0) departed in the 90th over.
Information
Patidar returns unbeaten on Day 2
MP batted for three more overs thereafter, getting to 305/6 before stumps. Patidar (107* off 185 balls) and Saransh Jain (2* off 9 balls) will start the Day 3 proceedings for the side. Patidar has scored 12 fours so far.
Career highlights
A look at his stats
Earlier this year, Patidar led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their first-ever IPL title. He also captained Central Zone to the Duleep Trophy title. He was Madhya Pradesh's second-highest run-scorer in the last Ranji season with 529 runs at an average of 48.09. His performance included one century and two half-centuries. In 73 First-Class matches, the Indian batter has raced past 5,300 runs at over 44.