Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batsman Rajat Patidar who was played 4 matches in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL 2021), could only manage 71 runs, but was extremely happy to share the dressing room with the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.

While talking in an interview, Patidar revealed that he has always loved the Bangalore-based franchise and was nervous before meeting skipper Kohli and wicket-keeper batsman AB de Villiers.

“RCB has always been my favorite team because of AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli. Luckily, I got a chance to play with them. I was nervous before meeting them, but I liked it a lot after coming here,” Patidar told RCB in an interview.

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The right-hand batsman then talked about his conversations with the two stalwarts of the game as he said, “We talked about the match situation and how we can play while being calculative. We knew if we do that right, we can overcome the pressure situation. That is what we were talking about.”

The 27-year-old who played at No.3 for RCB, actually started as an off-spinner. Thanks to his coach who saw his batting potential and made him the cricketer he is today.

He further mentioned that his cricketing idols were Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.

“At that time, there was just one name - Sachin Tendulkar. It all started because of him. And then slowly, when I started playing, I started following others like Rahul Dravid, and, from the current lot, I like Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli a lot. I have different idols in different formats,” he said.

Multiple players and support staff members tested positive for COVID-19 inside the bio-bubble forced the BCCI and IPL governing council to suspend the tournament indefinitely.

(With Hindustan Times inputs)