Rajat Patidar, the captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, is one victory away from joining MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma as IPL title defenders, but he prefers to follow his own path as a leader rather than emulate someone else.
RCB must defeat Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Sunday to win their second consecutive IPL trophy after Patidar guided them to their first in 2025.
“Every captain wants to win trophies. But I never change myself because it’s important to be yourself. That’s what I’ve focused on. Even if I’m a captain, it doesn’t mean I have to do anything different,” PTI quoted Patidar as saying in the pre-match press conference on Saturday.
Patidar made it apparent that his only goal was to lead RCB to another championship and that he was not interested in competing for accomplishments with any previous captains.
“So, I’ve never thought about what a captain has done before and whether I want to compete with someone or not. As an individual, my journey has been a rollercoaster ride Wherever I live, I focus on what I can do best.
“I’ve never thought about moving forward or going back. If I’m here, I’m just focussing on what I can do before the final, and tomorrow is the final, so we’ll try to give our best,” he added.
However, the 32-year-old claimed that learning from more experienced players in the RCB dugout, like Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Virat Kohli, has helped him.
“There are a lot of learnings, especially off the field and on the field, there are a lot of helping hands. There are a lot of experienced players, from whom I’m getting a lot of good ideas. So, I’m trying to understand those ideas and apply them to the game.”
The Madhya Pradesh cricketer also thanked Andy Flower and Mo Bobat, two members of the RCB coaching staff, for providing him with the space to work.
“The management also plays a big role in this because they never force me. They know what kind of an individual I am. Even the senior players know what kind of an individual I am. So, there’s a good backing from the management and the senior players. So, I’ve never faced such a problem. And I’m in my zone. So that’s helping me,” he said.
According to Patidar, he also relished another crucial part of his leadership position: mentoring the team’s younger players.
“I always like to spend time with them. I always try to tell them that it’s important to be yourself. I was there in this situation in 2021. I was looking at the senior players. There was anxiety and nervousness.
“So, I keep telling them the same thing. You don’t need to look at who is standing in front of you. You are here because you deserve it. Focus on your strength rather than focussing more on what is not in your control.”
Does he consider wearing an India cap now that he has made significant progress as a T20 player and captain? Maybe in the shortest format as India’s captain?
“I’m not looking forward to any selection regarding India. I don’t visualise to be the T20 captain of India,” he said.
