Ranji Trophy: Rajat Patidar slams maiden FC double-century
What's the story
Rajat Patidar, the newly appointed all-format captain of Madhya Pradesh, has made a sensational start to the 2025-26 season. He scored his maiden First-Class double century on Friday during the Ranji Trophy opener against Punjab at Indore's Emerald Heights International School Ground. The innings was instrumental in giving MP a first-innings lead over Punjab's total of 232 runs.
Knock
Patidar leads from the front
Responding to Punjab's first-innings, MP lost three wickets inside 100 runs. 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 (73). The duo took the team past 300. Patidar, who got to his hundred on Day 2, continued the good work on Day 3 and went past 200.
Career highlights
Maiden double ton for Patidar
Patidar, who had a previous best score of 196 in First-Class cricket, reached his maiden double century off 328 balls. The 32-year-old has been playing red-ball cricket for MP for the last decade and has scored over 5,200 runs at an average nearing 45. This was overall his 16th hundred across 73 FC games, as per ESPNcricinfo (50s: 27).
Recent performances
Patidar's run since the last Ranji Trophy season
After a disappointing Test debut against England in February 2024, Patidar made a strong comeback in the last Ranji Trophy season. He was MP's top run-scorer with 529 runs at an average of 48.09, including one century and two fifties. Patidar also led MP to the finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy while performing strongly with the bat. Under his leadership, Royal Challengers Bengaluru won their maiden IPL title earlier this year.
Leadership roles
Stellar in Duleep Trophy
In September, Patidar led Central Zone side to glory in the Duleep Trophy 2025 tournament. He scored four consecutive 50-plus scores, including two centuries in the quarter-final and final. His first-innings century in the final against South Zone was a match-winning performance that helped Central Zone end their 10-year wait for a first-class title. Earlier this month, he also led Rest of India (ROI) side during Irani Cup against Vidarbha. ROI, however, came second in that contest.