Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has announced the new captain for the upcoming IPL season. RCB said on Thursday that Rajat Patidar will be the new captain of the team and the team will look for its first title under his leadership. Star batsman Virat Kohli was also in the race for the captaincy, but the team management announced Patidar's name.
Patidar has captaincy experience.
Rajat Patidar was in the race to become the captain from the beginning. Patidar is among the few players who were retained by the franchise for the upcoming season. Patidar has experience of captaining Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. 31-year-old Patidar led Madhya Pradesh to the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy under his captaincy, but the team lost to Mumbai by five wickets in the title match. Patidar was the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament. Ahead of him was Ajinkya Rahane who scored 428 runs in 10 matches at an average of 61 and a strike rate of 186.08.
RCB's eighth captain
Patidar has been associated with RCB since 2021 and is the eighth captain of RCB. Patidar was released after the IPL 2021 season, but in 2022 he joined the team as a replacement player. Patidar scored an unbeaten 112 in the eliminator match against Lucknow Supergiants and was the first uncapped batsman in IPL history to score a century in a playoff match. Patidar played 15 matches for RCB in the 2024 season and scored 395 runs including five half-centuries.
RCB managed to reach the playoffs last season and performed well in the second leg of the tournament. The team's journey ended in the eliminator round. RCB had retained Patidar, Kohli, and Yash Dayal for the 2025 season. Faf du Plessis has been leading the team since 2022, but the franchise parted ways with him before this season. RCB released du Plessis before the mega auction. 40-year-old du Plessis will play for Delhi Capitals this season.
RCB has not won the title yet
RCB is one of those teams that has never won the IPL title so far. The team has reached the final three times and last played the title match in 2016. RCB has managed to reach the playoffs four times out of the last five seasons. The team was able to make a comeback after a bad start last season. The team won its last six league stage matches and reached the top-4, but had to face defeat in the eliminator.
KKR and Delhi did not reveal their cards
RCB has announced its captain, but Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Delhi Capitals team have not yet announced the captain for the upcoming season. Shreyas Iyer won the IPL title for KKR last season, but this season he will lead Punjab Kings. At the same time, Rishabh Pant, who has been captaining Delhi Capitals till now, will now be the captain of Lucknow Supergiants.
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