TimesofIndia.com in Dharamsala: Back-to-back trip to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). IPL The finale hasn’t come through a single superstar season or a one-man rescue act. Over the years, RCB has been defined by individuals, a franchise with big names and big expectations. Since last year’s title run, they have increasingly looked like a side with a recognizable personality, defined by the team, not individuals. And RCB’s director of cricket, Mo Bobbitt, says his identity mirrors the man who guides him: Rajat Patidar.A captain is calm off the field and aggressive on it. RCB seems to have adopted the same rhythm. On Tuesday, thanks to Rajat Patidar’s unbeaten 93 off 33 balls, RCB defeated Gujarat Titans by 92 runs in Qualifier 1 and booked their place in the title match.Speaking after the match, Bobbitt pointed to one trait he believes sets this RCB team apart from those of the past: contributing to the dressing room rather than relying on a few players.“We’re obviously happy that we had a lot of people contributing to the win,” Bobbitt said. “We are not relying too much on one or two players with the bat or one or two with the ball. We have a lot of people contributing.”This, more than results, seems to be the focus of RCB’s turnaround. His campaign is built on multiple hands carrying the load. Batsmen have stepped up at different moments, bowlers have delivered under pressure, and the burden has not consistently fallen on one shoulder.Bobbitt suggests that this is also not a recent development.
Rajat Patidar (Image credit: BCCI/IPL)
“It was typical of the way we played last year. We had a lot of guys who stood up with the bat and the ball. And you need that to get ahead in competitions.”According to Bobbitt, RCB’s identity is also rooted in a certain approach: fearless determination.“And we’ve worked really hard over the last few years to make that a hallmark of our team,” he said. “We want to score runs aggressively and we want to take wickets, especially early in the innings.”What’s interesting is how closely that philosophy resonates with Patidar himself.
Dinesh Karthik and Rajat Patidar (Image credit: BCCI/IPL)
The RCB captain has become one of the defining stories of this season. His batting has been active and uncomplicated, a style based on attacking instincts rather than survival. In pressure games, he looked fearless, relying on his methods and forcing the bowlers to defend.In the first qualifier against GT, he produced an innings that Bobat called “special”.“He’s definitely batting brilliantly at the moment and he’s been performing throughout the competition,” Bobbitt said. “I’m sure they’ll be really happy to be able to stand in a big qualifier and a big game.”For Bobat, a captain performing at the top of his game naturally lifts the mood in the dressing room.
I think any team that has a good captain is full of confidence.
RCB Cricket Director Mo Bobat
Patidar’s influence, however, seems to go beyond numbers. The 32-year-old skipper is not a captain to be used due to constant interference. Bobbitt highlighted his ability to conserve energy and maintain clarity.“He keeps things very simple,” Bobbitt said. “He’s somebody who wants to focus on doing his job when he’s on the field. He’s pretty calm when everything is off the field. He’s very good at managing his energy.”That simplicity is perhaps beginning to be seen in the team itself. There is obvious aggression in RCB’s cricket, but very little panic. They attack, but run without being seen.Even Patidar’s batting evolution reflects this mindset. Bobbitt jokingly recalled calling him a “spin basher” last season, a label Patidar apparently did not appreciate.“I think he’s quite angry with me,” laughs Bobbitt. “I was just saying it was spin.”This season, Patidar has worked on broadening his game and in particular Its effectiveness against speed. Patidar has hit 41 sixes in this year’s IPL, 27 of which have come against fast bowlers.“He has worked very hard on his game. He works incredibly hard with both DK (Dinesh Karthik) and Andy (Flower),” said Bobbitt.More importantly, Bobbot believes that the fundamentals have always been there.“One thing about Rajat is that he often takes the ball in the middle. Whether he’s facing fast bowling, spin bowling, off the front foot or off the back foot, the ball hits the middle of his bat a lot.”
Virat Kohli during a practice session ahead of the IPL 2026 final in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. (PTI)
If Patidar represents RCB’s future and present, his experienced core has become the support structure around him.Much has been said about RCB’s reliance on players from the other side of 35 like Virat Kohli, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood. But Bobat believes their value goes beyond the columns of age or experience.He said that experience is very important in stressful games. I think everyone understands what Virat brings to the team, his intensity and his fight. It never lacks hunger and motivation.“There’s someone like Coronel who has that much fight, that much aggression. He always wants to be in the game. He wants to be in difficult moments.”“Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood are calm characters. They are not aggressive, but they want to be in the tough moments of the game. That’s when they want to stand up.”The willingness to move towards pressure, rather than away from it, is perhaps the clearest reflection from this RCB side.Over the years, RCB searched for an identity. This season, it looks as if they’ve found one: attack without recklessness, calm without apathy, and a captain whose personality has quietly permeated his surroundings in the dressing room.
