Rajat Patidar and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru created history on Sunday by becoming only the third captain and team, respectively, to defend an IPL title.
RCB beat the Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the same place they won the title last year, and won back-to-back IPL titles, with both coming under Patidar’s captaincy.
Only two other teams before RCB had won the IPL title in two consecutive years. CSK in 2010 & 2011, under MS Dhoni, were the first to do it, followed by the Mumbai Indians under Rohit Sharma in 2019 & 2020.
After the final, Rajat Patidar spoke in the press conference about what turned RCB into back-to-back IPL champions.
“I’m not very expressive” – Rajat Patidar
Patidar was asked to reflect on his poker-faced captaincy, which has stood out over the last two years in the IPL. He has become quite infamous for not letting any of his emotions show on his face during a match.
Patidar said that even though he didn’t show it on his face, he was always aware of what to do as a captain on the field, and the gears were always turning in his head.
“As a captain, I’m not very expressive. At the same time, I’m aware of the game situation,” he said.
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“I have learnt a lot from him” – Rajat Patidar on Faf du Plessis
On his captaincy and how he conducted himself, Patidar credited former RCB captain Faf du Plessis, saying he had learnt many things from the South African.
“As a captain, I learned a lot from Faf du Plessis – how he presents himself, his confidence, his body language. I learnt a lot from that,” Rajat Patidar said.
“He spent a lot of time with the bowlers” – Rajat Patidar on bowling coach
Just before IPL 2025, RCB appointed Omkar Salvi as their fast-bowling coach. Till then, Salvi had served as the Head Coach of Mumbai in domestic cricket.
The move was made with Patidar’s desire to build a potent fast bowling attack in mind. It was one of the things Patidar had said needed to improve within the RCB set-up when he first became captain.
Since then, Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Rasikh Salam Dar have built one of the best pace bowling line-ups of the IPL.
Rajat Patidar gave Salvi credit for spending one-on-one time with the bowlers.
“I have seen Omkar Salvi sir since I started my first Ranji season. From there, I have been watching him,” he said.
“He spends a lot of time one-on-one with every bowler. There is a lot of hard work he has done for the team. We don’t always see him in meetings or talking in groups, but he works individually with players. He spent a lot of time one-on-one, especially with bowlers. That really helped them.”
“There has been a change in mindset” – Patidar
When asked what the reason was behind RCB going from no trophies in 18 years to winning back-to-back IPL titles, Patidar said that the mindset had changed.
He also talked about the culture shift that has happened within the side.
“The culture has definitely changed, but I cannot compare with before because I have only played since 2021,” he said. “What I see now is a change in mindset. The coaching staff deserves full credit. They treat every player equally – whether experienced or new. That is the biggest change I see,” Patidar added.
He also said that Andy Flower was the best coach he had played under.
“This is the best birthday gift for me” – Patidar
As Monday, June 1, happens to be Rajat Patidar’s 33rd birthday, he was asked about the celebrations running into the night.
Even with his birthday in sight, Patidar remained focused on next year’s IPL.
“It feels really good. It is the best gift because it is my birthday today, so it cannot be better than this. But I try to stay in the present. We now have to focus on how we can do three in a row. We will celebrate today, but then the focus moves on again,” he said.
No team has ever won three IPL titles in a row, and only a handful of teams have ever won their league three times in a row across all T20 cricket.
Also Read: “It feels superb”: Rajat Patidar ecstatic as RCB clinch back-to-back IPL titles with win over GT
