Rajat Patidar joins rare club with his fourth consecutive away 50

Chris Gayle, Kane Williamson, Rajat Patidar. 

Guess what connects the three? The answer might come as a big surprise. Only three players in the 16-year-long Indian Premier League (IPL) history have scored four consecutive half-centuries away from home.

Gayle, as usual, remains the biggest trendsetter in the cash-rich league, with four consecutive half-centuries in the 2012 edition playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The left-hander began his streak with a 58-ball 86 against Kolkata Knight Riders before following it up with a 59-ball 82* against Mumbai Indians. He didn’t stop there, with a 57 against Pune Warriors India before an unbeaten 62-ball 128 completed the set. 

Six years later, Williamson, representing the Sunrisers Hyderabad, levelled the feat with half-centuries against Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings and RCB. His scores across the sequence read: 63, 83*, 51 and 81. 

In 2024, Patidar decided to join the club with some style. The right-hander overturned his fortunes in the season with a half-century against Mumbai Indians. In RCB’s next away game, in Kolkata, he smashed Suyash Sharma in his second half-century of the season. 

If it was Suyash in Kolkata, it was Mayank Markande in Hyderabad, where Patidar notched up the third-fastest half-century for RCB. On May 9 (Thursday), Patidar equalled both Gayle and Williamson with a fourth consecutive half-century after his 21-ball 50 against Punjab Kings at the scenic Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamsala. 

Patidar got off to a great start, with 20 runs in his first ten balls, with a six. But only when PBKS bowled Rahul Chahar, the 30-year-old went full-on aggressive, scoring 28 runs off 10 balls, hitting four sixes, and three coming against the Punjab leggie.

In this season alone, the Madhya Pradesh-born cricketer has scored 127 runs against leg-spinners in just 48 balls, striking at 264.6. 

Not only did Patidar join a rare club with his fourth consecutive half-century, he did it in some style. In seven games away from home, the 30-year-old has a strike rate of 181.5, with 20 of his 24 sixes coming while travelling. Quite a unique feat, eh?

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