Rajat Patidar: An opportunity and made history! Replacement player turned champion captain of IPL; Rajat Patidar changed RCB’s fortunes

• Replacement player turned champion captain of IPL
• Patidar changed RCB’s fortunes
• RCB’s game-changing captain

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Rajat Patidar is currently the most talked about player in the IPL. Patidar, who once joined the team as an “injury replacement”, has today become a successful captain leading RCB to two consecutive IPL trophies. Under his leadership, RCB achieved a historic victory by defeating Gujarat Titans in the final of IPL 2026 played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

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Great success achieved through struggle

Rajat Patidar’s entire IPL journey has been quite a struggle. He was not purchased by any team in the 2022 auction. In fact, he had decided to marry after not being sold at the auction. The wedding date was fixed on 9th May 2022 and all the preparations were done. However, a few days before the wedding, he received a call from Mike Hesson (the then coach of RCB). RCB included him in the squad in place of injured wicketkeeper Lavneet Sisodia. Initially, Rajat thought of turning down RCB’s offer, fearing that he would have to call off the wedding and sit on the bench for the entire season. Rajat Patidar joined the RCB team after being persuaded by his family. From that moment his career took a turn. In the eliminator match against Lucknow Super Giants, he grabbed everyone’s attention by scoring an unbeaten century.

In 2022, Patidar scored 333 runs in eight matches, including a brilliant 112 off 54 balls in the eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants. He went on to become one of RCB’s most successful uncapped players that season. Also, he became the first uncapped player in IPL history to score a century in the playoffs.

A strong comeback from injury

While Patidar was in the best form of his career, a serious injury forced him out of the entire 2023 season. Missing the entire season was a big blow. After recovering from the injury, he gradually rebuilt his career. After a domestic season for Madhya Pradesh, he made his ODI debut for India against South Africa in 2023 and scored 22 runs as an opener. He then made his Test debut in 2024 against England. He scored 63 runs in three matches. He made a strong comeback in IPL 2024 scoring 395 runs in 15 matches.

Turning point in career

The biggest turning point in Rajat Patidar’s career came in 2025, when the entire RCB leadership team was changing. The team released Faf du Plessis from the team. So, Virat Kohli wanted to continue playing as a player. RCB then took a surprising decision to hand over the reins of the team to Rajat Patidar. The team retained him for Rs 11 crore.

Patidar changed RCB’s fortunes

Rajat Patidar, along with RCB’s batting coach Dinesh Karthik and head coach Andy Flower, built a team that was strong in every department. The team already had substitutes for each player. With the experience of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood, the aggressive batting of Rajat Patidar and Devdutt Padikkal, finishers like Tim David, Romario Shepherd and Jitesh Sharma, and the all-rounder Krunal Pandya, the team looked formidable. Virat Kohli, who has been a consistent performer for 17 years, was also in this team. On the strength of this team, RCB ended a drought of 17 years and won their first title in 2025 and in IPL 2026, he performed brilliantly to lead the team to the title. Rajat Patidar created history by becoming the first IPL captain to win two consecutive titles in his first two seasons as captain.

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