IPL 2012 winner Rajat Bhatia retires from all forms of cricket to focus on biomechanics
IPL: Veteran Delhi all-rounder Rajat Bhatia has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after an illustrious domestic career which spanned 20 years.
Veteran Delhi all-rounder Rajat Bhatia has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. In an illustrious domestic career which spanned 20 years, Rajat Bhatia made 112 first-class appearances where he amassed 6,482 runs with 17 centuries and 30 half-centuries. As far as bowling is concerned, Bhatia has grabbed 137 wickets in his first-class career. In his List A career, Rajat Bhatia played 119 matches where he scored 3,038 runs with 3 tons and 19 fifties. He also bagged 93 wickets.
Rajat Bhatia retirement: Veteran Delhi all-rounder calls it quits from all forms of cricket
One of the veterans in the domestic circuit, Rajat Bhatia has been playing cricket for more than two decades now. He may not be a famous name in the international cricket circuit, but he is one of the few Indian players to have an enormous amount of experience in playing first-class cricket.
Rajat Bhatia made his debut for Tamil Nadu in 1999 and has played 112 first-class matches, which are a milestone in itself. The veteran all-rounder was instrumental in Delhi's Ranji Trophy title win in 2007 where he amassed 512 runs in 7 matches.
Rajat Bhatia played for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in the inaugural season of the IPL. After three successful years with Delhi Daredevils, Rajat Bhatia was brought by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2011 auction where he played under his long-time Delhi teammate Gautam Gambhir. He played a crucial role in Kolkata Knight Riders' IPL title win in 2012 as well in the previous season, which saw KKR make it to the playoffs for the first time ever.
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Rajat Bhatia was bought by Rajasthan Royals before the IPL 2014 at a price of ₹1.7 crore. After a couple of years with the Royals, Rajat Bhatia was picked by the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant in 2016. In his 10 years in the IPL, Rajat Bhatia made a name for himself with his slow bowling and deceptive variations. In IPL, he played 95 matches and scored 342 runs at an average of 11.40 and strike rate of around 120. On the other hand, he picked up 71 wickets at an average of 28.45 and economy rate of 7.40.
While speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Rajat Bhatia said that he was keen on pursuing a career in biomechanics and when he didn't hear back from Uttarakhand last season, he thought it is best that he focuses on his interests outside the game too instead of blocking a youngster's place. Rajat Bhatia added that he has pursued a biomechanics course with specialisation in training and pain management in the USA, which he said was a one-of-a-kind course. Rajat Bhatia reckoned that there are many biomechanics practitioners in India for bowling, but very few in his field which is why he wanted to break new ground there.
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Injuries plagued his career, which is one of the reasons he has missed put on a lot of matches in domestic cricket. Rajat Bhatia, who majorly played for Delhi, was let go by the state in November 2015. He represented Delhi in 81 matches where he scored 4666 runs and picked 96 wickets. He then played for Rajasthan and subsequently transferred to Uttarakhand ahead of the 2018-19 Ranji season.
IMAGE COURTESY: TWITTER/GREYMIND43
Published By : Jatin Malu
Published On: 29 July 2020 at 13:21 IST