Rajat Patidar to lead Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2025 after Virat Kohli opts out of captaincy; announcement made.
One of the most popular franchises Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) announced the rising India batter Rajat Patidar as their new captain for the upcoming IPL 2025 (Indian Premier League) season. Notably, the Bangalore-based franchise revealed its major decision on Thursday, February 13, after Virat Kohli was deemed to take over the reins once again.
However, Kohli was not interested in leading the side once again after the former skipper Faf du Plessis was not retained during the IPL mega auctions. RCB held a press conference to end all the speculations around the new in charge of the side. For the uninitiated, Kohli had led Bangalore between 2013 and 2021, respectively.
During his long tenure with the franchise as captain. even though RCB failed to win an IPL title, the year 2016 turned out to be one of the best years for Virat Kohli as he led the franchise to the final. However, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) denied them to realise their dream of IPL glory.
Meanwhile, speaking of Rajat Patidar, the youngster has gained some valuable leadership experience by captaining Madhya Pradesh (MP) in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy aka SMAT. Patidar led MP to the final of the premier domestic T20 cricket competition. Moreover, he also led the side in the coveted Vijay Hazare Trophy as well. Hence, after Kohli, he was deemed fit to take the mantle from du Plessis as RCB did not pick any player in specific who possesses leadership qualities.
Besides, while announcing the new skipper for the franchise, Mo Bobat, the RCB team director shed light on why Kohli was not given another stint as a captain. Bobat called the Indian legend the natural leader of the side while also not ruling out that he was in the mix for captaincy.
“Virat doesn’t need captaincy title to lead the team, he was of course an option for captaincy. He sets the tone right. We had a discussion with Virat in Ahmedabad. He is happy for Rajat,” Bobat said during the press conference.
Check out RCB’s new captain announcement post here:
The next captain of RCB is…
Many greats of the game have carved a rich captaincy heritage for RCB, and it’s now time for this focused, fearless and fierce competitor to lead us to glory! This calmness under pressure and ability to take on challenges, as he’s shown us in the… pic.twitter.com/rPY2AdG1p5
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) February 13, 2025
