Reece Topley names Rajat Patidar as the batter he is most impressed by [Exclusive Interview]

Reece Topley is one of the most recognisable names in the T20 format and is a regular name across the franchise circuit. The former England international has been regarded as a handy strike bowler, with a wide array of deceptive slower balls and accurate yorkers, combined with his left-arm angle and ability to move the ball both ways. Despite his injury record, he is a recurring feature across the world in the sport. He has played 65 matches for England across the white-ball formats, taking 80 wickets, and has played 222 T20 matches, taking 269 wickets.

Topley, a regular feature across international leagues, has participated in the IPL, playing for two different teams – Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians, respectively. He has been amongst some of the stars of the Indian game, and among those, he has named current RCB captain Rajat Patidar as one of the most exciting players in the country.

Patidar was signed by RCB as a replacement player in 2021, and has since been a regular for the franchise. He shared the dressing room with Topley in 2023 and 2024, and has gone on to become the captain who took the famed team to their much-awaited maiden IPL triumph in 2025, and oversaw its successful defence in 2026. The achievement put him alongside the great MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma as just the third captain to successfully defend an IPL title.

During his time with Mumbai Indians, Topley also shared the dressing room with all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who is one of the most feared hitters in the format. Topley named the MI skipper as the player he would not want to bowl at if ten runs were required in the final over of the game.

In a candid chat with CricTracker, Topley showered praise on Patidar, and also regarded Pandya’s reputation as one of the most destructive batters in the world.

Also Check: Reece Topley names the toughest batter he has bowled to [Exclusive Interview]

Excerpts from the interview

Which current Indian youngster impresses you the most?

“Well, firstly, there’s so many. It’s incredibly tricky just to, you know, narrow it down. I’ll go Patidar. I don’t know if he counts as a youngster. I don’t think he’s played for India yet. Yeah, I’ll go Patidar from RCB. I don’t know how old he is, but we’ll go with him.”

If England and India met in a World Cup final tomorrow, and you had the ball for the last over defending 10 runs — which Indian batter would you NOT want on strike? 

“It’s tricky because you only have to name one but if it was one of them probably be Hardik. I mean, yeah, I mean, his power down the ground is just, you know, I think everyone knows from watching him so much that his power, you know, back past you is immense. Yeah, I think out of everyone, I think there’s not many places to hide it from him when he’s on, you know, top form, especially at the end of the innings.”