Rajat Patidar has always been clear about his choices and how to run his team, as depicted by his leadership skills in domestic competitions.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have high expectations from their new captain, Rajat Patidar, ahead of IPL 2025. RCB had Faf du Plessis in the previous cycle, who led them exceptionally well and made RCB consistent by taking them to playoffs twice in three seasons (2022 & 2024).
However, they are still searching for that elusive trophy and hope Patidar ends the drought in a fresh cycle. Numerous teammates and experts have spoken highly of his leadership skills, and Patidar is supposed to have a calm head and the ability to make sound decisions under pressure.
On ESPNcricinfo, his former Madhya Pradesh teammate Jalaj Saxena recalls Patidar’s Ranji Trophy debut against Baroda in Vadodara, where MP conceded a first-innings lead. Patidar asked the teammate to dominate spinners and scored a magnificent ton to bring his team back into the game, and MP eventually won the contest.
“It was his Ranji Trophy debut, against Baroda [in 2015-16] and we [MP] had conceded a lead. But Rajat was clear he would look to dominate spin from the get-go because he felt that was the only way to put the pressure back. He scored an outstanding century, and we set them a target we easily defended. That innings earned the respect of the entire team.”
Royal Challengers Bengaluru had a few options for their next captain, including Virat Kohli, Jitesh Sharma, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. However, they chose Rajat Patidar to lead the renowned franchise, which was the right decision in several ways.
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Firstly, Patidar has been with the RCB unit for a while and understands how they operate better than newcomers like Jitesh and Bhuvneshwar. Meanwhile, Virat was reportedly uninterested in taking over the captaincy duties again, which is understandable at this point in his career.
Further, Patidar has ample captaincy experience because he is the captain of his domestic side, Madhya Pradesh, and understands how T20s work. Under his leadership, Madhya Pradesh reached the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024, which stamped his authority as a captain since Patidar also performed well with the willow.
Patidar has always been clear about his choices and how to run his team, as depicted by his leadership skills in domestic competitions. RCB have a fresh team with fresh opportunities, so it was wise to appoint a new captain from the start of the cycle and let him lead them as he wished.
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