Virat Kohli to play under Rajat Patidar’s captaincy at RCB

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have ended the suspense over their captaincy ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Madhya Pradesh batter Rajat Patidar has been announced as the captain of RCB.

Patidar succeeds South African Faf du Plessis, whom they let go ahead of the IPL Mega Auction in Jeddah last November. Patidar was one of three players retained by RCB ahead of the auction. The others were star batter Virat Kohli and bowler Yash Dayal.

RCB said they were handing over the armband to a 'fearless and fierce competitor', whose "calmness under pressure and ability to take on challenges, as he’s shown us in the past", they believe will be a game-changer for the franchise that has yet to win the IPL.

Kohli, who captained RCB from 2011 to 2021 and in 2023, had maintained that he was not prepared to take up the armband again. Earlier today, RCB released a video featuring batting coach Dinesh Karthik to declare the imminent captain announcement.

Patidar had a brief spell with RCB in 2021 before joining them the following season to replace an injured Luvnith Sisodia. Last season, he scored five fifties. Rahul Dravid, Kevin Pietersen, Anil Kumble, Daniel Vettori, Virat Kohli, Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis were RCB's past captains.

RCB did good business in the auction, bringing in Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Liam Livingstone and Tim David among others. IPL 2025 will be played between March 21 and May 25.