Rajat Patidar will lead Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the new latest season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) after an announcement on Thursday (Feb 13). Patidar becomes the eighth player to lead in the franchise history, joining the likes of Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis. Patidar recently led Madhya Pradesh to the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) and saw off competition from Virat Kohli in the race for captaincy.

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Patidar named new captain

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In a special programme held by RCB in Bengaluru, Patidar succeeded Faf du Plessis as the new skipper with the latter no longer with the side after IPL 2025 auctions.

The middle-order batter was one of three players retained by the franchise along with Virat and Yash Dayal in October.

The franchise decided to not retain Faf and other senior players like Mohammed Siraj while showing faith in Patidar. The Madhya Pradesh captain showed glimpses of his captaincy in the SMAT where his side finished runners-up to Mumbai.

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"Rajat has the simplicity, cares about the people around him, we have closely see how he led Madhya Pradesh, we really liked it," RCB head coach Andy Flower said during the unveiling.

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List of RCB captains

1. Rahul Dravid (2008) – The first captain of RCB in the inaugural IPL season.

2. Kevin Pietersen (2009) – Led the team for the first half of IPL 2009 before handing over the captaincy.

3. Anil Kumble (2009–2010) – Took over from Pietersen and led RCB to the IPL 2009 final.

4. Daniel Vettori (2011–2012) – Led the team to the IPL 2011 final.

5. Virat Kohli (2013–2021) – The longest-serving RCB captain, led them to the IPL 2016 final.

6. Faf du Plessis (2022–present) – Took over after Kohli stepped down.

7. Shane Watson (2017) – Stand-in captain for a few matches when Kohli and AB de Villiers were injured.

8. Rajat Patidar (Present)

RCB Squad for IPL 2025

Retained players and their retention prices

Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal

Players acquired at the IPL 2025 auction

Liam Livingstone, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Dar, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, and Nuwan Thushara.