According to captain Rajat Patidar, Royal Challengers Bengaluru has moved past the excitement of winning the IPL the previous season and is now concentrating only on “ticking all the boxes” in order to win another trophy this year.
After defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets in Bengaluru on Saturday, RCB had a thrilling start to IPL 2026. However, Patidar stated that the squad does not especially see this season’s effort as a title defence.
“We are not here with the mindset that we have to defend anything, what we did in 2025 has passed. We are here with the mindset that in 2026 we have to tick all the boxes and that will help us win the trophy this year,” PTI quoted Patidar as saying in the post-match press conference after their win against SRH.
As Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, and Jacob Duffy put on outstanding performances to secure the team’s victory, RCB boldly checked off three boxes. Patidar began by lauding Kohli.
“Virat Kohli is a number one chase master, so, I always liked his batting and to watch his batting from the dugout, the way he played the shots, the way he assessed the situation, I think that was really good to see as always.
“Even I feel (like head coach Andy Flower) like he is at his peak. I have no words to describe his innings. He is my idol and the way I saw him in the nets, the same energy, the same eagerness to perform, to dominate this game… I think I am learning a lot of things by watching him in the nets.”
Patidar praised pacer Duffy, who broke SRH’s top order with three wickets, saying RCB has a lot of faith in the Kiwi pacer.
“Jacob Duffy, I think he is a specialist T20 bowler and we have a lot of confidence in him. I think the way he is delivering his skill…that was tremendous,” he said.
The RCB vs SRH game began solemnly with a minute of silence in remembrance of the 11 spectators who lost their lives in the stadium stampede last year. It was always a “bad feeling” to miss family members, according to Patidar.
“Of course you feel bad when you miss your family member. I will say family member because everyone who has supported us over the years, I think they are kind of a family to us and we miss them and I don’t have words to say right now,” he said.
But Patidar was delighted to be back at Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“100%, whenever we come here in Chinnaswamy and it was a season opener game for us and playing with 12th man army, with the support of 12th man army, I think that was really exciting and it was really fun,” he added.
