Virat Kohli, who declined the RCB captaincy, urged fans to support to newly-appointed Rajat Patidar at the RCB Unbox event.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) stalwart Virat Kohli made an emotional request to the fans for the newly-appointed skipper Rajat Patidar during the RCB Unbox Event at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday, March 17.
Rajat Patidar was named as the captain of the RCB ahead of the IPL 2025. The captaincy announcement at an event in Bengaluru, attended by the franchise director Mo Bobat, head coach Andy Flower, and Patidar, After Faf du Plessis was released from the franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 auction and was picked by Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru were in a hunt for a new captain. The reports emerged that Kohli was likely to return to helm as the captain for the upcoming season.
However, the former RCB skipper rejected the offer and expressed his desire to play solely as a batter. Last month, the Bengaluru-based IPL franchise decided to appoint Rajat Patidar as the new captain of the team. The Madhya Pradesh batter was retained by the RCB for INR 11 crore ahead of the IPL 2025.
During the RCB Unbox Event, where the squad assembled on the stage, Virat Kohli urged the fans to show their support and love for Rajat Patidar, while highly praising his talent. The 36-year-old also expressed his confidence in Patidar to carry the team forward.
“The guy who is going to come next is the guy who is going to lead you for a long time. So, give him all the love you can. He's an amazing talent and a great player as we have all seen.” Kohli said.
“He also has a great head on his shoulders and he will do a great job and take this amazing franchise forward. He has got everything that's required." he added.
WATCH: Virat Kohli’s request to RCB fans
Rajat Patidar has been part of RCB since 2022. He came in as a replacement in IPL 2022 and had a brilliant debut season, amassing 333 runs, including a century and two fifties, at an average of 55.50 in just 8 matches. In the IPL 2022 Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants, the 31-year-old scripted history by becoming the first player to score a century in the playoffs, when he played a brilliant innings of 112 off 54 at an impressive strike rate of 207.40.
In IPL 2024, Rajat Patidar had a good season on his return to the tournament after being ruled out of the previous edition. He amassed 395 runs, including five fifties, at an average of 30.38 and a strike rate of 177.13 in 15 matches.
Can Rajat Patidar guide RCB to maiden IPL title in his captaincy debut?
As a captain, Rajat Patidar has an arduous task in hand, guiding Royal Challengers Bengaluru to clinch their maiden IPL title in the upcoming season. RCB are one of the original IPL teams, alongside Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals, to have not won the title since the inaugural edition of the tournament.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru reached the final of the IPL thrice in 2009, 2011, and 2016, but fell short of winning the elusive title on all three occasions. Despite having star-studded players, including the likes of AB de Villiers, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Anil Kumble, Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen, Daniel Vettori, Dale Steyn and to name a few, still RCB did not tier hands on coveted trophy yet.
RCB reached the playoffs four times in the last five seasons, but they could not progress beyond the knockout stage. Therefore, Rajat Patidar, though he will have the backing of Virat Kohli and RCB management, needs to lead from the front with the bat and tactical acumen, ensuring that the team secure their maiden IPL title.
Rajat Patidar already has captaincy experience as he captains Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket. He led Madhya Pradesh to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final last year, but fell short winning the trophy as they lost to Mumbai.
