For nearly two decades, Royal Challengers Bengaluru carried a burden that seemed impossible to shake. Every season started with hope and ended with disappointment. ‘Esala Cup Namde’ became less of a buzzword and more of a reminder of just how exciting the IPL trophy can be.Then came a captain no one saw coming.Soft-spoken and measured in his demeanor, far from the limelight, Rajat Patidar Never fit the image of a franchise-defining superstar. Yet under his leadership the ‘Esala Cup Namdu’ finally became a reality.Now, with RCB one victory away from defending their title, Patidar is only on the way to something. Rohit Sharma And MS Dhoni have been successful in the history of IPL.The journey from injury replacement to title-winning captain never seemed the same.
Restoration of 2026
Most championship-winning teams struggle to maintain success. Patidar ensured that RCB remained contenders. If IPL 2025 was about ending the drought, then IPL 2026 was about proving that it was no fluke. The season has shown another evolution under his leadership. His captaincy has become sharper, his field placements more active and his management of the bowlers increasingly clever. His batting has also reached another level.Patidar has scored 486 runs in 14 matches, his highest in an IPL campaign. He has hit 41 sixes and has once again established himself as one of the most devastating middle-order batsmen in the competition. The calm, unassuming captain is the enforcer of RCB’s middle overs.The decisive moment came in Qualifier 1 against Gujarat Titans. With a place in the final at stake, Patidar produced the best innings of his captaincy career, scoring an unbeaten 93 off just 33 balls. RCB posted a record play-off total and reached another IPL final.Now, the injury replacement who was never sold at auction stands one victory away from achieving something that only MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma have achieved as IPL captains.
The captain who changed the fortunes of RCB.
Along with batting coach Dinesh Karthik and head coach Andy Flower, Patidar helped transform RCB from a star-dependent team to one of the most complete teams in the IPL. The batting got deeper. Bowling became more organized. The dressing room became less dependent on individual talent. In retrospect, it seems obvious. At the time, it wasn’t.Ahead of IPL 2025, RCB faced a major leadership challenge. Faf du Plessis had moved on. Virat Kohli was available but chose to continue without captaincy responsibilities. Most expected the franchise to land a big international name.Instead, RCB kept their faith in Patidar, whom they retained for Rs 11 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. Patidar had already shown leadership qualities by captaining Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final in 2024, where they eventually lost to Mumbai, led by Shreyas Iyer.RCB were betting on character rather than celebrity. It turned out to be one of the smartest decisions in franchise history.
The knock that changed his career forever.
RCB first picked Patidar for Rs 20 lakh in the IPL 2021 mini auction. A top-order batsman from Madhya Pradesh, he had already made a name for himself in domestic cricket and would later be instrumental in ending the state’s 69-year wait for a Ranji Trophy title.In his first season playing for RCB, however, Patidar’s performance was poor. He got only four chances in the middle order and scored only 71 runs. He was then released ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction, where he went unsold.Desperate, Patidar gave up on his IPL dreams and also fixed his wedding dates for May 2022. Midway through the season, RCB’s wicketkeeper Loneeth Sisodia suffered an injury. RCB head coach Mike Hessen named Patidar as a replacement. Although Patidar later revealed that he initially did not want to join as he thought he would spend the entire season sitting on the bench, he eventually agreed after his family insisted.The rest is history.Patidar played eight matches and finished as one of the most successful uncapped players for RCB that season, scoring 333 runs including a 54-ball 112* against Lucknow Supergiants in the eliminator. He became the first uncapped player in IPL history to score a century in the playoffs.
The injury derailed almost everything.
Just when the Patidars looked ready to establish themselves permanently, another shock struck. An Achilles heel injury ruled him out of IPL 2023 altogether. Missing an entire season was a huge blow. He returned to domestic cricket after recovering from the injury and gradually rebuilt his career. After a successful domestic stint for Madhya Pradesh, he made his ODI debut for India against South Africa in 2023, where he scored 22 runs as an opener. He later made his Test debut against England in 2024. He scored 63 runs in three matches.
The Rise of Spin Bashir
Patidar returned to RCB and enjoyed a full season in the middle order, scoring 395 runs in 15 matches. More importantly, he showed the cricketing world exactly what he was capable of. Rajat hit 33 sixes during the season and earned a reputation as one of the best spin hitters in the league. He ended the campaign with an impressive strike rate of 177.33, establishing himself as a genuine middle-order match-winner.As RCB entered a leadership transition phase, Patidar was no longer just a comeback story. He had become one of the tournament’s most devastating middle-order batsmen and one of the franchise’s most reliable performers – and now an IPL-winning captain. In a franchise built around superstars, an overlooked home run batsman suddenly becomes a hero.
