Rajat Patidar shakes his head in amusement when probed a few tactical transfer he cherishes from the IPL, in a present with RCB Daring Diaries. “Aise kuch nahin,” he says, making an attempt to shake off the query, earlier than he fishes out favorite second. “It was throughout the second league recreation in opposition to Punjab Kings. Prabhsimran Singh was taking the quick bowlers aside after I considered bringing a spinner. He was hitting in a move, and off-pace may disrupt it,” he defined his reasoning. He launched left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya who instantly received the wicket.
The incident provided a peep into Patidar’s thought stream. His plans usually are not grand or elaborate, however easy, sensible and designed on the transfer. “Half of the work (strategising) is completed by our skilled help employees, I simply must deal with the on-field points,” he says with a self-deprecatory smile that implies that the load of the position is just not crushing him. And on Tuesday, he led RCB to the promised land, delivering the franchise’s first ever IPL trophy.
The person on the digicam, sitting relaxed on a blazing bindi-red sofa is the person of the sector too. He has the present of being seen but invisible on the similar time.He’s laid again, but critical, he isn’t chatty, however his phrases are measured and significant. On the sector, he blends into his teammates, is just not camera-conscious, quite escapes the digicam with out even the cameras realising it, is just not extremely expressive, however has expressive eyes however an undemonstrative face. He isn’t essentially the most vocal particular person of the sector, there’s a refrain of skilled arms for making the noise. He largely lets the bowlers select their area, however conveys his opinions when he feels he has to.
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐎𝐅 #𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐏𝐋 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 🏆🤩
The ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU have accomplished it for the primary time ❤#RCBvPBKS | #Last | #TheLastMile | @RCBTweets pic.twitter.com/x4rGdcNavS
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) June 3, 2025
He not often vents out his rage or angst. Even in essentially the most anxious second he retains his poise, a trait that has received him reward from coaches and pundits. “There’s a calmness and a simplicity to Rajat,” extolls head coach Andy Flower. Staying grounded is the trait that happy Dinesh Karthik, RCB’s mentor and batting coach. “He has been the largest eye-opener for me in life,” Karthik mentioned on the second episode of RCB’s Journey to the Finale. “As a result of when folks instantly get just a little little bit of adulation, energy, they have an inclination to alter… However with Rajat Patidar — what a man. He has been precisely the identical that he was earlier than turning into the captain.”
Making him captain was not a determined or whimsical choice. Flower and Co had watched his type of captaincy within the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and detected ample traits in him to steer probably the most well-liked franchises within the league. “We actually favored what we noticed. He’s inherently a quiet man, however observing him, he cares in regards to the folks round him. He cares in regards to the folks that he performs with, that he shares a dressing room with. And I feel that’s a top quality that signifies that he’ll immediately have respect and care from different folks, and that, as a pacesetter, these qualities are vital in that individuals will comply with you and get behind you. On the similar time there may be stubbornness and steeliness about him.”
The coaches that had moulded him swear on the qualities too. His childhood coach Ram Atre’s thoughts rewinds to the chilly winter mornings of Indore when Patidar would have readied the pitch earlier than the coaches arrived. “We don’t have curators or groundsmen to make the pitch. Normally, the duty fell on the freshers to maintain the pitch prepared earlier than the follow session. However Rajat would do it even after he turned a senior participant of the membership. He was a well-liked man, pleasant and all the time speaking with a smile on his face. The junior gamers would flock to him for recommendation and he would patiently clarify to them no matter they’d requested for,” he remembers.
He had a fierce successful mentality however by no means pours his anger on his teammates even when they find yourself on the dropping facet. “In fact, he tells them the place they’ve gone incorrect, however by no means places the blame on others. Quite, he’ll suppose deeply about the place he has erred and work on it till he will get it corrected. He had the drive from the second he joined the membership. He was six or seven at the moment.” he says, earlier than rattling out one other anecdote. He factors to a six-year outdated child who has come to attend the summer season camp. “Rajat was shorter than him and when he first got here right here, he couldn’t even clear the infield (which is roughly the dimensions of a yard) of the Dusshera Maidan floor. However he was affected person, skilled arduous and in four-five weeks’ time began clearing it with ease,” he narrates.
His journey from being snubbed by RCB to captaining them to the ultimate itself is a testomony to his endurance and a coronary heart of granite. Within the mega public sale of 2022, the franchise didn’t retain him. He was disillusioned, however he instantly hit the bottom operating to play native membership cricket. “Every time he suffered a setback, he would make a comeback with double the power. He wouldn’t present his frustration on the bottom or throughout follow, however work quietly, removed from everybody’s gaze,” says the coach. However as future had it, he was recalled in the direction of the tip of the season as an damage alternative. He was in two minds as he was sure that he would largely bench-warm and his wedding ceremony was mounted too. In the long run, the love for the sport received, he postponed the marriage, rejoined RCB and latched onto the break with an unbeaten 112 in opposition to Lucknow Tremendous Giants within the eliminator. An ankle damage saved him out of the following season, however RCB retained him, and two years later, he guided them to the ultimate after 9 years.
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When RCB administration sounded him about his new position final yr, he didn’t get overwhelmed however informed them that he had captained Madhya Pradesh a lot, so would go and captain them first earlier than assuming cost of RCB. His coronary heart pounded the primary time he walked out for the toss, he informed RCB Daring Diaries. “Loads of questions had been passing by way of my head. Like what I’d do with the toss, what if I lose it, in regards to the questions they’d ask me. However on the similar time I used to be clear on what I needed to do,” he admitted. Two months later, the once-ignored, soft-spoken captain, fulfilled the lengthy unfulfilled dream of RCB with a dream-like narrative of his personal.