This is how Rajat Patidar became IPL champion captain. (Photo- PTI)
RCB Captain Rajat Patidar: Whenever a player changes the fortunes of the team through his hard work on the IPL stage, history remembers him in golden letters. This also proves to be absolutely true for Royal Challengers Bangalore captain and star batsman Rajat Patidar. Rajat Patidar was once struggling to make a place in the IPL, but when luck favored him in the middle of the season, everything changed. Rajat Patidar took full advantage of the opportunity and then changed RCB from zero to hero as soon as the captain was changed.
Start of IPL career with RCB
Rajat Patidar’s IPL career started with RCB in the year 2021. But his journey from 2021 to 2026 is no less than a film script, where he has played the biggest role in making RCB the 2nd champion team by overcoming injuries and difficulties. Actually, Rajat Patidar was included in their team by RCB for the first time in the year 2021. This was just the beginning of his big journey. But he was released before the year 2022 and no one had placed bets on him in the auction.
Stopping marriage became a boon for Patidars
The year 2022 proved to be the turning point in Rajat Patidar’s career. Actually, after not finding a buyer in the auction, his luck took a new turn. He got a chance to join the RCB team in the middle of the season. Rajat Patidar was signed by RCB as a replacement for injured wicketkeeper Lavneet Sisodia. He grabbed this opportunity with both hands and took the team forward by scoring a memorable and stormy century in a big knockout match like Eliminator. After this inning, it seemed as if his luck changed. The special thing was that Rajat had put his marriage on hold to join RCB.
Actually, after remaining unsold in the auction, they had decided to get married. The wedding date was fixed for 9th May 2022 and all the preparations were done. But a few days before the wedding, he got a call from the RCB camp and got an offer to join as a replacement. Due to which he postponed his marriage and chose cricket and joined RCB. But when he was in the best form of his career, a serious injury forced him to sit out the entire 2023 season. RCB missed him a lot that year. However, when he returned from injury in 2024, his style had become even more aggressive. In this season, he scored a total of 395 runs with an unmatched strike rate of 177 and became the life of the team’s middle order.
RCB turning silver into gold.
Become captain in the year 2025
This year was recorded in the history of RCB. Before the season, the team announced Rajat Patidar as the captain and everything changed. Under the brilliant captaincy of Rajat Patidar, RCB finally ended the years-long IPL trophy drought and became champion for the first time. This year too, Rajat’s charm continued. On the basis of his excellent performance, he took RCB to the IPL final for the second consecutive year and made an important contribution in making the team champion again. Due to which Rajat Patidar, who transformed RCB into a champion team, has today become one of the biggest superstars of Bengaluru.
