It was yet another special night for Rajat Patidar in an IPL playoff. From his 2022 Eliminator masterclass against the Lucknow Super Giants to his 2026 carnage in Qualifier 1 against the Gujarat Titans, Patidar is fast becoming a playoffs beast.
Just like in 2022, he put up a batting show against the Titans in the Qualifier at the HPCA Stadium to effectively kill the match at the end of the first innings as his butchering and unbeaten 33-ball 93 took Bengaluru a massive 92-run win. Patidar was on 21 from 13 balls before he went on a run-scoring spree to amass 72 from the next 20 balls as RCB put up the highest-ever score in an IPL playoff - 254/4.
Patidar creates record for most sixes
Meanwhile, Patidar has created the T20 world record of most sixes hit by a captain in a single T20 tournament as his 10 sixes took him to 41 maximums in IPL 2026. The record previously belonged to Riyan Parag, who had smashed 40 maximums in a six-laden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023/24 while leading Assam to the semifinal.
The IPL record was held by Shreyas Iyer, who had hit 39 maximums captaining Punjab Kings to the 2025 final. Meanwhile, the record in international cricket belongs to Germany's captain Musaddiq Ahmed, who smashed 26 sixes in a home T20I series against Austria earlier this month.
Most sixes by a captain in a T20 tournament:
1 - Rajat Patidar: 41 sixes in IPL 2026*
2 - Riyan Parag: 40 sixes in SMAT 2023/24
3 - Shreyas Iyer: 39 sixes in IPL 2025
4 - Virat Kohli: 38 sixes in IPL 2016
5 - Chris Gayle: 37 sixes in CPL 2016 while leading Jamaica Tallawahs
Patidar second to another major captaincy record
Meanwhile, Patidar has also become just the second captain in IPL history to have led a team to back-to-back finals in their first two captaincy seasons. Hardik Pandya held the record earlier, after captaining the Gujarat Titans to the IPL 2022 victory and the final in 2023.
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