Bengaluru Royal Challengers (RCB) has named 31 year old Rajat Patidar as the new captain of their franchise ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
This wasn’t the expected news for Faf Du Plessis, who was present at the event yesterday and leads the team for the last few seasons now. The new incoming coach had stated that during his initial conversations with the IPL teams, there was an impression he would take over the reins following this years Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Patidar, who will be the eighth player to lead the team, expressed: “I once circulated amongst the players and coaches to seek out who has a vote for captaincy. Rest Be assured, I will ensure my name to that list next time round. Based out of RCB, I want to take some responsibility, even if it means leading state teams.”
Patidar went to IPL in 2021 when he was signed to the franchise. He is known for having the effortless ability to blunder both the pace and spin, as such, he has played for RCB in 27 games and scored 799 runs at astounding strike rate of 158.85. He was retained alongside Virat Kohli and Yash Dayal. He was retained for 11 crores INR.
Patidar, Kohli and RCB’s need for balance
Unfortunately, he did not take part in the 2022 season and was dropped from the auction list. But after an injury to Luvinth Sisodia in the 2022 season, Patidar was given another opportunity to play for RCB as a replacement player. He did very well scoring 333 runs in 8 innings making him one of the most valued players in RCB since he has a century under his name.
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The Royal Challengers have made a move from the traditional icon kochi, who has brandished the captaincy sword for the past years, to an aggressively young Patidar, who is one of the most valued players for RCB. Kohli first started captaining the team in 2011 when he took over from Daniel Vettori after he was missing for three matches. He officially became the captain of the team in 2012 and led the side till 2021.
With Kohli as captain, RCB qualified for the playoffs in 2015 and even finished second in the following year when the star batsman scored a staggering 973 runs. They reached the playoff stage again in 2020 and 2021. In the 2022-24 cycle, however, the Royal Challengers also qualified for the playoffs in two seasons while du Plessis was captain. The senior Indian batter, however, was the team’s captain for three matches in 2023 where he stood in for du Plessis who just suffered a rib injury and was an impact substitute.
“I could elaborate on Rajat for a long time, but I focused on three main aspects that I thought would be interesting to share,” said head coach Andy Flower. “The first one is, there is a tranquility and a simplicity to Rajat that I think is going to put him in good stead as a leader and a captain, particularly in the IPL. As we know, it is one of the top tournaments in the world and comes with features and pressure. And I think the calm, simple demeanour that naturally resides in Rajat is going to serve him really well in the early, early to the mid stages of that tournament.”
“And like every one of us, he will have to make his decisions and I would like to interpret that positively. I think it’s a pity that some qualities were visible, so it will be good for him. We watched Rajat in detail when he was in charge of Madhya Pradesh side in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tourn
“To be quite honest, people are what matter to him, and that is both a locker room and on the pitch. And with that, comes respect, and as a leader, that is something important because people will want to follow you. They will go behind you. The third, and I guess the last, of the points would be something around reluctance, the man is strong, the man does have steel.”
“He will see it once he on the playing field with the amount of sheer courage that he possesses. He is very brave indeed. Flower had said, ‘This quality, his playing, should provide mind-boggling support through the ups and downs. That are the basics that come with being a participant and now a competitor while leading a big franchise in the IPL. All these qualities are going to support Rajat. We understand that,” he said.” Read more latest cricket update; click 1xbetfair
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