Rajat Patidar, the explosive middle-order batter hailing from Madhya Pradesh, has been appointed as the captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru for Indian Premier League 2025. Having released Faf du Plessis, who marshalled the troops in the previous editions, the Bengaluru-franchise were on the lookout for a captaincy candidate. Patidar, who led Madhya Pradesh to the final of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy earlier this season, will become the eighth player to lead the immensely popular side which is yet to win the trophy.
Patidar made his IPL debut in 2021 and has cemented his place in the team since then. An attractive striker of the ball who dominates both pace and spin, he has played 27 games for RCB, scoring 799 runs at a strike rate of 158.85. He was one of the three retentions (11 Cr) for RCB ahead of the mega auction, apart from ex-captain Virat Kohli and Yash Dayal.
A new chapter begins for RCB and we couldn’t be more excited for Ra-Pa! 🤩
From being scouted for two to three years before he first made it to RCB in 2021, to coming back as injury replacement in 2022, missing out in 2023 due to injury, bouncing back and leading our middle… pic.twitter.com/gStbPR2fwc
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) February 13, 2025
Rajat was released from the squad ahead of the 2022 season and did not find a taker at the auctions. An unfortunate injury to Luvnith Sisodia gave Patidar a shot at proving himself as he was drafted into the mix as a replacement. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands, scoring 333 runs in 8 innings, including a century.
Patidar’s appointment is a key development in the cup-coveting journey of the Royal Challengers. Under Kohli’s watch, RCB made the playoffs in 2015 and were the runners-up in the subsequent year, a season in which the talisman scored an eye-popping 973 runs. They also punched a ticket to the playoffs in 2020 and 2021. Royal Challengers made the playoffs in two seasons in the 2022-24 cycle, when du Plessis was the captain of the side after Kohli relinquished the role.
