“There is a calmness to Rajat and that will stand Rajat in good stead, especially in the IPL,” Flower said. “He is inherently a quiet guy, but he cares about the people around him in the dressing room. As a leader, those qualities are important.”
Bobat confirmed that Kohli was an option the team management had thought about.
“Both Virat and Rajat were credible captaincy auctions,” Bobat said. “We didn’t want to go into the auctions with a captaincy option in mind.
“We wanted an Indian captain predominantly because this is an Indian competition. Of course, Virat was an option. [But] Virat does not need a captaincy title to lead. Even last year with Faf as captain, we have seen that.”
Discussions within the group confirmed to the coaches that Patidar was the right choice, Bobat said.
Patidar, 31, was one of three players RCB retained ahead of the mega auction in November last year. While this will be his first captaincy stint in the IPL, he has captained MP in the 2024-25 seasons of the 20-over Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy. Those tournaments were his first full-time assignments as captain in domestic cricket.
RCB have not won the IPL title yet, though they have been finalists three times, the last of which was in 2016. They have made the playoffs in four of the last five seasons, including in 2024, when they won their last six league matches to get into the top four but then lost the Eliminator.
With RCB appointing Patidar, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Delhi Capitals (DC) are the only teams yet to name their captains for the upcoming season. Shreyas Iyer, KKR’s captain last year, will lead Punjab Kings (PBKS) this year, while the former DC captain Rishabh Pant is now leading Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
