Rajat Patidar pips Virat Kohli, named new RCB captain for IPL 2025

The wait is over! Rajat Patidar has been named Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s new captain for IPL 2025. RCB announced their new captain after dropping a series of clues via a social media campaign. With IPL 2025 set to begin from March 21, RCB now have a new captain and it is the Madhya Pradesh skipper.

RCB director Mo Bobat and coach Andy Flower addressed a press conference where the new captain was unveiled. Virat Kohli heaped praise on Patidar and said that the new captain will have the 100% backing of his teammates in his new endeavour.

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The frontrunners for RCB captaincy for IPL 2025 included Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Krunal Pandya. A report had earlier stated that while Kohli was involved in discussions with the management to fill the leadership vacuum, he was hesitant to take up that role. Meanwhile, feedback from senior players and the RCB camp put Patidar in a pole position to be named the captain. RCB’s latest addition Krunal Pandya was also in the fray. The team management was impressed with credentials as Baroda’s skipper. Besides, a TOI report stated that RCB believed that he was very much in the leadership picture.

RCB were on the look out for a new captain ever since releasing Faf du Plessis. The South African had taken over the reins of the team after Kohli relinquished captaincy in 2022. However, he was released just before the IPL 2025 mega auction. This prompted the trophy-less franchise to look for a new captain ahead of IPL 2025. Seems like they have finally found a viable option.