Rajat Patidar became the third Indian captain to win IPL on leadership debut.
Rajat Patidar ended Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) 18-year-long wait for the elusive Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy on June 3. They defeated the Punjab Kings (PBKS), who are also yet to win the title in this cash-rich league, by a mere margin of six runs in the IPL 2025 Final. Former RCB captain Virat Kohli has praised the new skipper after achieving this extraordinary feat.
During the title-winning celebrations at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in the Garden City, Kohli expressed his gratitude towards the huge fanbase of RCB. He acknowledged their support through all these IPL seasons and dedicated this victory to them. While welcoming Patidar, the 36-year-old emphasised his contribution to this title-winning campaign. Kohli also stated that the Madhya Pradesh batter will continue to captain the franchise for a long time in the future.
“It’s for all of you. The fans, the people of this wonderful city, people who’ve supported RCB through thick and thin. I’ve never seen any fanbase of any team in the world like this franchise. I’m going to give the loudest cheer for him. He is going to lead us for a long, long time — our captain, Rajat Patidar” said Kohli.
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Patidar also mentioned their clarity in roles and how RCB continued their winning momentum throughout the season. Notably, the 32-year-old became only the third Indian captain in the league’s history, after Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians in 2013), and Hardik Pandya (Gujarat Titans in 2022), to win the IPL title in his leadership debut.
“It was a great moment for us. From the start of the season, everyone was clear about what we had to do. You all deserve the trophy. We all love you,” added the title-winning skipper.
The Men in Red started their season by beating the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders, at their home ground, Eden Gardens. They went on to maintain the away-match winning streak in the league stage and became the first-ever team to win all seven of those in a single season.
Though RCB faced a few challenges in their initial home fixtures, Patidar and Co. improved their tactics well to quickly cover up the weaknesses. They managed to continue their unbeaten away-match streak throughout the IPL 2025 by winning Qualifier 1 in Mullanpur and the Final in Ahmedabad. After failing thrice to win the IPL title in 2009, 2011 and 2016, the Bengaluru outfit finally got their hands on the silverware.
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