Follow UsThe choice to go with Rajat Patidar as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain was very surprising and one that came with a bit of scepticism from fans. But they backed him nonetheless as he was the choice of the all-powerful RCB management.
But why did the management go for Patidar over all the players? They had the ever-experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a more than decent Phil Salt and someone like Krunal Pandya too, who had donned the hat in domestic cricket.
Answering the question, Mo Bobat, director of cricket at RCB, felt that they first chose to move on from previous skipper Faf du Plessis as captain, factoring in his age and therefore did not retain him.
“A big part of that Indian core was also a difficult decision on captaincy. We made the decision to move on from him as captain, and we were quite keen on an Indian captain. And given that we were trying to do things a little bit differently, we felt like a new RCB needed a new leader as well,” he said in an interview with Cricbuzz.
“So, having someone like Rajat [Patidar] lead the team, ensuring that he had support from people like Virat on the field, someone like Dinesh Karthik off the field, Andy as well, and some other really good senior players like Jitesh [Sharma], Krunal [Pandya], Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar], Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt,” he added.
The pick did work wonders as RCB won their first-ever Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy under the leadership of Patidar. Bobat, after the success that he had at RCB, has now been made director of cricket of the London Spirit in The Hundred. He will continue to hold his position at RCB as well.