Rajat Patidar became the third captain after MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma to win back-to-back Indian Premier League titles. Under his leadership, Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Gujarat Titans by five wickets to win their second successive title at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday night. At the post-match presentation, Patidar was emotional about the extraordinary RCB captaincy journey that he has had since 2024.
“I never dreamt of becoming the captain of RCB and lifting the trophy. I think it was written [in his destiny]. Grateful for that,” he said.
The 2025 IPL final was also played at Ahmedabad. “It feels superb. When we came here, there were a lot of memories of last year. I don’t have words to express, but this feels very good. It was a clear plan when we won the toss [that they wanted to bowl]. [They knew] It would be easy to chase. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Salam, KP [Krunal Pandya], Suyash Sharma and Romario Shepherd, they bowled really well throughout the tournament.”
Patidar said having broken the jinx last season, they were much more confident in 2026. “We were slightly more confident than last year. Everywhere it felt like a home ground for us with the fans coming in. The pre-tournament prep was very good.”
Patidar scored a fantastic 93 not out in the first qualifier against GT to help his team reach the final this past Tuesday. Talking about how he has improved his batting, Patidar said: “I tried to analyze which shots are good for me. I got so many inputs from DK [Dinesh Karthik], which were helpful for me.”
The Kohli help!
Virat Kohli scored 75 not out as RCB chased down 156 with 12 balls to go. RCB had a mini-collapse in their chase, and Kohli also picked up a leg injury, but that didn’t deter him. He was determined to take his team to another trophy. When he hit Arshad Khan for a six to finish off the game, he celebrated with a lot of emotion. Patidar, multiple times this season, has spoken of Kohli in glowing terms for helping him greatly behind the scenes. Patidar kept it short this time, though. “He [Virat Kohli] is always there for the team. [Addressing RCB fans in the stands] This one is for you again, RCB fans,” he concluded.
