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What led RCB to drop Virat Kohli as captaincy ‘option’ for IPL 2025 and pick Rajat Patidar? What happened in Ahmedabad?
Rajat Patidar became the eighth captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL after Rahul Dravid, Kevin Pietersen, Anil Kumble, Daniel Vettori, Virat Kohli, Shane Watson and Faf Du Plessis.
Ever since Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar were retained by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL), a debate has emerged over who will take up the captaincy, especially after the franchise released Faf du Plessis. Speculation grew stronger when RCB didn’t aggressively pursue any captaincy options during the IPL 2025 auction, despite KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Shreyas Iyer being available.
Three months later, the baton was finally passed on when RCB announced Madhya Pradesh batter Rajat Patidar as their new skipper at an event in Bengaluru on Thursday afternoon. But what went wrong with former captain Virat Kohli, who was always involved in the discussions for the new captain for the new season?
“To choose from, you know, whether we went Indian or overseas was an important discussion point for us. We felt quite strongly that an Indian captain was preferable. That's nothing against any overseas options,” RCB Director of Cricket Mo Bobat told media.
“Primarily because it's an Indian competition on Indian pitches against predominantly Indian players. So somebody who's got that local knowledge and insight is really, really helpful for us. So, look, lots of options,” he added.
During the announcement Mo Bobat revealed that he and head coach Andy Flower met Virat Kohli in Ahmedabad before during the India vs England 3rd ODI, where the decision to chose Rajat Patidar was finalised.
“Of course, Virat was an option. I know that the fans would have probably leant towards Virat in the first instance, but we've seen a lot of look for Rajat too. Look, my point on Virat would be that Virat doesn't need a captaincy title to lead. I think leadership, as we've all seen, is one of his strongest instincts. For us, even last year with Faf's captain, we saw every bit of that.
“He leads, as an example, with the back, the volume of runs and the strike rate that he scored out last year was so impressive and so important for us. He set the tone. He leads in the field,” Mo Bobat said.
Did Virat Kohli deny captaincy?
Asked if Virat Kohli denied captaincy when the RCB management met him in Ahmedabad, RCB head coach Andy Flower kept mum before diverting to the India batter's characteristics.
“In our discussions with Virat, I thought the integrity he showed was of the highest calibre. I enjoyed talking with him. One of the things that stood out was the energy he showed with the coming IPL. I've got a lot of respect for Virat, even when we were struggling last year, how he supported Faf; that experience only made my respect for me grow,” the former Zimbabwean cricketer said.
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Business NewsSportsCricket NewsWhat led RCB to drop Virat Kohli as captaincy ‘option’ for IPL 2025 and pick Rajat Patidar? What happened in Ahmedabad?
First Published:13 Feb 2025, 02:33 PM IST
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