Rajat Patidar, the captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, expressed his gratitude to Virat Kohli for his essential advice on the technical aspects of his batting as well as for supporting all of the team’s junior players.
Patidar, who hit more than 500 runs in RCB’s second consecutive IPL title victory, expressed gratitude to the senior member of his squad for his encouragement.
“The way I look at my batting, I try to work on where I can improve, against pacers especially. I got a lot of ideas and help from Kohli bhai. Whenever I see him, he’s always there for the team and all players. He goes to the young players even if they’re nervous approaching him,” PTI quoted Patidar as saying about team-man Kohli.
As he entered the Narendra Modi Stadium arena, Patidar noted that many memories from the previous year’s victory kept coming back to him, but he disciplined his mind to be in the present.
“It feels superb. There were a lot of memories from last year but we had to stay in the present. Don’t have words to express but feeling good,” Patidar said.
Patidar knew that chasing would be simpler because he understood the track.
“Plan was clear, it was easier to chase. We wanted to get their (GT’s) top-three. Our bowlers throughout the tournament have been superb. Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar), (Josh) Hazlewood, Rasikh (Dar), Krunal (Pandya), Sheppie (Romario Shepherd), all have been superb.”
After being called in as Luvnith Sisodia’s injured substitute four years prior, Patidar postponed getting married. In 2025, he was given the captaincy in a more brilliant move. Patidar would not have believed anyone if they had told him about the plot of his life.
“Never dreamt I’d win two (IPLs) for RCB. It’s all written. Last year, there was a lot of pressure. This year, we were confident. All were in a good frame of mind as compared to last year. Pre-tournament prep was very good for me.”
Patidar gave RCB fans a farewell in Kannada: “EE salanoo cup namdu (The Cup is ours again).”
