RCB have named Rajat Patidar as the new captain for the upcoming season
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) had to announce a new captain ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 and they went with Madhya Pradesh’s star batter Rajat Patidar.
There were talks of Virat Kohli, the franchise’s longest serving captain, returning to the helm which didn’t happen. Kohli had captained RCB in 143 games, including a few games as the interim captain in IPL 2023.
When asked why the star batter wasn’t handed the reins again, RCB director of cricket Mo Bobat said,
“Of course, Virat was one of the options. But he’s someone who doesn’t need a title, he’s always a captain in the dressing room.”
“He sets the tone, he leads the team on the field. He’s won multiple games in the field. You can see his energy out on the field. People don’t see his professionalism, he’s truly a professional,” Bobat added.
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Kohli is the IPL all-time leading runscorer with 8004 runs from 244 innings , which include eight hundreds and 55 half centuries.
“He’s an example. So I think everybody in the country and everyone in the world knows that Virat’s a leader in every sense of the word. Andy and I lean on him quite a lot. Kohli was excited and happy with this decision, he knows how deserving Rajat was for the captaincy,” Bobat said.
Earlier in the day, Kohli threw his support behind Patidar as the franchise’s new captain.
“Myself and the other team members will be right behind you. The way you have grown in this franchise and the way you have performed, you’ve made a place in the hearts of all RCB fans. This is very well deserved,” Kohli said in a video statement.
Patidar has been a consistent performer for RCB in the last three seasons after joining the team for a base price of INR 20 lakh in 2022.
He got into the RCB folklore in his first season for the team with a 112 not out in the eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants and scored a total of 333 runs from just five matches. Patidar has been in superb form leading up to IPL 2025 after leading Madhya Pradesh to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final with a tally of 428 runs from nine matches with an average of 61.
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