Rajat Patidar was named the eighth captain for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL history and only the second Indian in the last decade apart from Virat Kohli. RCB kick off their IPL 2025 campaign at the Eden Gardens against the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on March 22.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) chose to side with an inexperienced captain in Rajat Patidar as their leadership option for IPL 2025 after not going for an evident captaincy candidate at the player auction. Patidar, who has risen the ranks since his scintillating ton in the IPL 2022 eliminator against the Lucknow Super Giants, was one of the best RCB batters last year and had a magnificent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy leading Madhya Pradesh.
MP reached the final of India’s premier domestic T20 competition but faltered at the last hurdle against Mumbai. RCB’s batting coach Dinesh Karthik listed a couple of reasons including how Patidar led MP in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy recently as to why the franchise leaned in the 31-year-old’s favour.
“The way he led Madhya Pradesh during the domestic season was fantastic. A lot of good things players had to say about the way he led the team. So that really encouraged us, and we wanted a new leader considering it’s a fresh group of players and it’s going to be a fresh cycle as well. These two things prompted us to make Rajat our captain,” Karthik said on #HeyCB on Cricbuzz while answering fan questions.
RCB parted ways with their former skipper Faf du Plessis at the end of the three-year cycle as the former South African cricketer turned 40 last year. RCB wanted to invest in a young captain, who could lead the side in the foreseeable future and Patidar having done well as MP captain might have impressed the coaches, Virat Kohli and the owners. Patidar smashed 428 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 186 as he didn’t let captaincy affect his flow and impact as a batter and RCB will hope for more of the same in the IPL from the spin basher.
RCB qualified for the playoffs twice in the the last three years and after the mega auction, they have been able to pick a decent squad with a mix of youth and experience and hope that it can take them all the way. RCB begin their IPL 2025 campaign against the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on March 22 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
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