IPL 2021: Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, and Kyle Jamieson Make RCB Debuts Versus Mumbai Indians

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have announced three debutants for the opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in Chennai on Friday (April 9). RCB captain Virat Kohli confirmed the names of Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson and Rajat Patidar as his team’s debutants for the marquee fixture against defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at […]
 
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IPL 2021: Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, and Kyle Jamieson Make RCB Debuts Versus Mumbai Indians

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have announced three debutants for the opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in Chennai on Friday (April 9).

RCB captain Virat Kohli confirmed the names of Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson and Rajat Patidar as his team’s debutants for the marquee fixture against defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at the toss, where the skipper called it right and opted to bowl first.

IPL 2021: Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, and Kyle Jamieson Make RCB Debuts Versus Mumbai Indians

Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, and Kyle Jamieson Make RCB Debuts Versus MI in IPL 2021 opener

Glenn Maxwell, Australia’s T20 batting maverick, was one of RCB’s major signings at the IPL 2021 auction in February. Released by Punjab Kings (PBKS) after a lacklustre season last year, Maxwell was bought for a whopping sum of INR 14.25 crores by the RCB think-tank. The 32-year-old right-hand batsman has played 83 matches in his overall IPL career with 1,505 runs at an average of 22.13 and strike-rate of 154.67.

Another of RCB’s big buys at the auction for this year’s IPL was New Zealand’s young, tall pacer Kyle Jamieson, who they got after a huge bidding war with other franchises for an astonishing prize of INR 15.00 crores. Jamieson is making his IPL debut through the fixture against MI.

The speedster has featured in only eight T20I matches for New Zealand and in what hasn’t been the best of starts to his career, taken only 4 wickets while conceding 9.80 runs per over. RCB is depending heavily on Jamieson to resurrect his T20 record and boost their pace attack, having let go of Chris Morris after last IPL season.

IPL 2021: Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, and Kyle Jamieson Make RCB Debuts Versus Mumbai Indians

Patidar, on the other hand, has been a top-order batsman for Madhya Pradesh and is playing his maiden IPL season after being picked by RCB at the auction this year for his base prize of INR 20 lakhs. The 27-year-old right-hand batsman has got the IPL recognition after piling on a very good T20 record to his name at the domestic level. Patidar has a strike-rate of 143.53 and averages 34.95 runs per innings after 22 matches in his overall T20 career so far.

While Maxwell and Jamieson were obvious first-choice picks for RCB, Patidar’s inclusion came about as RCB lost their last season’s young star Devdutt Padikkal for the IPL 2021 opener versus MI. Padikkal, who had tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the tournament but then joined the RCB camp after successive negative tests, was recommended rest for the match at Chepauk.

Also Read: Should Virat Kohli Open For RCB In The IPL?