Rajat Patidar, a 31-year-old middle-order batsman, has been named the captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for the next Indian Premier League season. The franchise made the announcement during an event at the KSCA on Thursday (February 13).
The Bengaluru franchise was without a captain candidate for the 2025 campaign after releasing Faf du Plessis, who had led the team in prior seasons. Patidar will become the eighth player to captain RCB after leading Madhya Pradesh to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final earlier this season.
Regarding his captaincy and recalling the beginning of the leadership discussions, Patidar stated: “I believe I spoke with Mo [Bobat, RCB director of cricket] about this last year. Are you interested in taking on the role of captain? Mo inquired. I therefore informed him that I would prefer to captain the state team before captaining the RCB. I then received a suggestion that I might be promoted to captain. Along with that, I was a little pleased that I could still clearly sense the trip from where I began my IPL career.
Since making his IPL debut in 2021, Patidar has been a member of the team. He has played in 27 games for RCB, scoring 799 runs with a strike rate of 158.85. He can easily dominate pace and spin. He, along with Virat Kohli and Yash Dayal, was one of RCB’s three retainers before to the massive auction. It cost INR 11 crore to retain him.
He didn’t sell at the auctions, though, after being cut from the team before the 2022 campaign. Due to Luvinth Sisodia’s regrettable injury during the 2022 season, Patidar was given another opportunity to play for the RCB as a replacement. With 333 runs in 8 innings, including a century, he left a lasting impact and has since grown to be a vital member of the team.
The Royal Challengers, who have been captained by Virat Kohli and du Plessis throughout the years, are taking a new turn with Patidar’s appointment. In May 2011, Kohli took over as captain for the first time, replacing Daniel Vettori, who missed three games. In 2012, he assumed full-time captaincy of the team, a position he held until 2021.
Under Kohli’s leadership, RCB qualified for the 2015 playoffs and finished second the following year, during which the star batsman amassed a record 973 runs. In 2020 and 2021, they also made it to the playoffs. In the 2022–24 cycle, when du Plessis took over as captain after Kohli resigned, Royal Challengers also qualified for the playoffs in two of those seasons. While du Plessis was recuperating from a rib injury and only played as an Impact Player, the veteran Indian hitter commanded the team in three games in 2023.
“I could speak for quite a long time about Rajat, but I’ve settled on three main things that I thought might be interesting to share,” Andy Flower, the head coach, stated. The first is that, in my opinion, Rajat’s composure and simplicity will serve him well as a captain and leader, especially in the IPL. There are pressures associated with the IPL, which is one of the world’s top contests, as is well known. And I believe that Rajat’s natural calm, straightforward manner will work to his advantage in the early stages of that competition.
His judgment will be put to the test, just like everyone else’s, but I believe these traits will serve him well. As Rajat led Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali competition, we kept a careful eye on him and were impressed by his attributes. The second thing I would say about him is that, although he is naturally a quiet person, it is clear from watching him that he cares about those around him.
“The guys he plays with and shares a dressing room with are important to him. And in my opinion, that is a quality that indicates that he will immediately be respected and cared for by others. As a leader, those attributes are crucial because they inspire followers to follow and support you. After that, the third thing that strikes me about him is that he has a steeliness, strength, and tenacity.
“I’ve personally witnessed it happen when I try to instruct him in the nets and he refuses to listen. However, it’s evident in his playing style. “You can see how courageous he is when playing the game,” Flower continued. And I believe that he has a characteristic that will be crucial for him to endure the ups and downs that are unavoidable when playing in the IPL and now taking on the role of captain of a major IPL team for another year. Therefore, I believe that Rajat will benefit a lot from those attributes. We are aware of them.
