Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Thursday (Feb 13) announced their new captain ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) season in a grand ceremony held in Bengaluru. Rajat Patidar will lead the side in IPL 2025 as he becomes the eighth different player to wear the captain’s armband joining the likes of Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis. After the announcement, Virat congratulated Patidar pledging full support to the newly appointed skipper.

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Virat’s message for Patidar

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"So, this is very well deserved. And I want to tell you that myself and the other team members will be right behind you, and you'll have all our support to grow into this role. Of course, it's a big responsibility. I've done this for many years and Faf's done it for the last few years and to be seen as the guy who will take this franchise forward.

“I'm sure it's a huge honour for you, and I'm very, very happy for you. You have earned the right to be in this position, and I'm sure you will grow from strength to strength,” Virat said after Patidar was announced as the new skipper.

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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)

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.

"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.