Three days after leading Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their second straight Indian Premier League (IPL) title, Rajat Patidar was back in action on Wednesday (June 3), but in his first competitive cricket match following the conclusion of IPL 2026, he suffered a humiliating 92-run defeat. Patidar captained Gwalior Cheetahs in the first match of the 2026 edition of the Madhya Pradesh Premier League against Ujjain Falcons at Holkar Stadium in Indore on Wednesday but failed to help his team avoid the embarrassing loss.
In the first match of the second edition of the Madhya Pradesh Premier League, Patidar won the toss and opted to field first, but his decision backfired as Falcons rode on Delhi Capitals all-rounder Madhav Tiwari’s unbeaten fifty
to post a total of 221/6.
The target of 222 runs wasn’t a big one, but Patidar’s side failed to chase it down.
The right-handed batter, who amassed a total of 501 runs in 15 matches of IPL 2026, walked out to bat at No. 5 for Gwalior Cheetahs but was only able to score 11 runs from 8 balls. He smashed one four before being sent back to the pavilion by Rishi Miglani on the first ball of the 10th over of the run chase.
Rishi Miglani trapped Patidar in front of the wickets, and he became the sixth batter to make his way back to the pavilion.
Apart from Patidar, RCB’s Mangesh Yadav was also part of Gwalior Cheetahs’ playing XI, and he got out after scoring just 2 runs from 3 balls.
For Ujjain Falcons, Aayush Mankar picked up 3 wickets for 31 runs in four overs, and a couple of batters each were sent back to the pavilion by Madhav Tiwari, Rishi Miglani and Adheer Pratap Singh.
Patidar, who could earn his maiden India T20I call-up for the upcoming tours of Ireland and England, will next take the field on Friday (June 5) against Bhopal Leopards.
