Royal Challengers Bengaluru made a bold call on Thursday, announcing Rajat Patidar as their new captain with the belief that the ‘calm’ but ‘steely’ Madhya Pradesh batter Rajat Patidar would usher in a new era for the franchise. Rajat Patidar has been confirmed as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 edition.
The announcement was made on Thursday by Director of Cricket Mo Bobat and head coach Andy Flower. South Africa’s Faf du Plessis led the side in the past three seasons, but after he was let go from the franchise, RCB’s hunt for a new captain began. It was speculated that Virat Kohli might once again don the captaincy hat, but the management put its faith on Rajat Patidar instead.
Rajat Patidar’s career highlights and his journey with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
Rajat Patidar even made his debut for India last year, in the home series against England, but after scores of 32, 9, 5, 17 and two ducks, he was dropped. But his real talent lies in T20 cricket. Recently, Rajat Patidar led Madhya Pradesh to the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where his side lost to Shreyas Iyer-led Mumbai. The right-handed batter Rajat Patidar has been in phenomenal form, hitting spinners for fun.
Rajat Patidar was the second-highest run-scorer in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with 428 runs in nine innings at an average of 61.14 and strike rate of 186.08. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he made 226 runs at an average of 56.50 and strike rate of 107.10.
Rajat Patidar, one of the three players to be retained, first joined RCB in IPL 2021, where he played just four matches and scored 71 runs. He then once again joined the franchise in 2022 as a replacement for the injured Luvnith Sisodia for INR 20 lakh, and scored 333 runs, with his highest score being 112 not out.
His knock came in the Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The right-hander then missed the 2023 season due to an injury. In the last season, Rajat Patidar managed 395 runs at an average of 30.38 and a strike rate of 177.13.
Rajat Patidar and coach Andy Flower opens up post the appointment of skipper of RCB
Rajat Patidar, the 31-year-old middle order batter, has been appointed as the captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The announcement was made by the franchise at an event at the KSCA on Thursday (February 13).
After having released Faf du Plessis, who had captained the side in the previous seasons, the Bengaluru-franchise were without a captaincy candidate ahead of the 2025 season. Rajat Patidar, who had led Madhya Pradesh to the final of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy earlier this season, will become the eighth player to lead RCB. Post his appointment Rajat Patidar has expressed his excitement for the same.
Speaking about his captaincy, and recollecting when the leadership conversations started, Patidar said:
“Last year, I think it was Mo [Bobat, RCB director of cricket] who I spoke to about this. Mo asked me, are you interested in doing captaincy? So I told him, before doing captaincy for RCB, I’d like to have captaincy of the state team. So from there, I got a hint that I could get captaincy. So along with that, I was a little happy that from where I started my IPL career, and now that I look at it, I can feel that journey quite well.”
However, he was released from the squad ahead of the 2022 season and went unsold at the auctions. An unfortunate injury to Luvnith Sisodia during the 2022 season, allowed Rajat Patidar another chance with the RCB as a replacement player. He made a strong impression, scoring 333 runs in 8 innings, including a century, and since then became an integral part of the side.
Rajat Patidar’s appointment is a fresh direction for the Royal Challengers, who have been led by Virat Kohli and du Plessis over the years. Kohli first captained the team in May 2011, stepping in for Daniel Vettori who was not available for three matches. He took over full-time captaincy of the team in 2012 and led the team until the 2021 season.
Under Kohli’s captaincy, RCB made the playoffs in 2015 and were the runners-up in the subsequent year, a season in which the star batter scored a record 973 runs. They also reached the playoffs stage in 2020 and 2021. Royal Challengers also made the playoffs in two seasons in the 2022-24 cycle, when du Plessis was the captain of the side after Kohli stepped down. The senior Indian batter, however, captained the team in three matches in 2023, standing in for du Plessis who was recovering from a rib injury and featured only as an Impact Player.
“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,” said head coach Andy Flower.
“The first one is, there’s a calmness and a simplicity to Rajat that I think will stand in really good stead as a leader and a captain, particularly in the IPL. As we know, the IPL is one of the premier competitions in the world, and there’s pressures involved in that. And I think the calm, simple demeanor that inherently lives within Rajat is going to serve him really well in the early, early of that tournament
“And his decision-making will be tested, like all of ours is, but I think these qualities will stand him in really good stead. We watched Rajat very closely as he captained Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament, and we really liked what we saw around those qualities. The second thing I’d say about him, he’s inherently quite a quiet guy, but observing him, he cares about the people around him.
“He cares about the people that he plays with, that he shares a dressing room with. And I think that’s a quality that means that he will instantly have respect and care from other people, and that, as a leader, those qualities are important in that people will follow you and get behind you. And then the third thing that stands out for me about him is that he’s got a stubbornness and a strength and a steeliness about him.
“I’ve seen it myself when I’m trying to coach him in the nets and he won’t listen to me. But you see it in the way that he plays. You see the bravery with which he takes on the game,” added Flower. “
And I think that quality within him will be really important for him through the ups and downs, the inevitable ups and downs that come along with playing in the IPL and now stepping up another year into leading a big franchise in the IPL. So I think those qualities are going to stand Rajat in good stead. We recognize them.”
Rajat Patidar has played 27 matches for RCB in the IPL, scoring 799 runs at an average of 34.74 and a strike rate of 158.85. Patidar forms a vital cog in RCB’s top order, but how he copes with the added responsibility of captaincy remains to be seen. In the mega auction, RCB acquired major names such as Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Tim David, Jitesh Sharma and Phil Salt. However, the franchise also let go of some major star players, such as Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj.
RCB have not won the IPL title yet, though they have been finalists three times, the last of which was in 2016. They have made the playoffs in four of the last five seasons, including in 2024, when they won their last six league matches to get into the top four but then lost the Eliminator.
With RCB appointing Patidar, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Delhi Capitals (DC) are the only teams yet to name their captains for the upcoming season. Shreyas Iyer, KKR’s captain last year, will lead Punjab Kings (PBKS) this year, while the former DC captain Rishabh Pant is now leading Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).