Rajat Patidar's Fairytale Journey: From Replacement Player To RCB Captain

Rajat Patidar was officially announced as the captain of one of the most celebrated IPL franchises, Royal Challenges Bengaluru (RCB), ahead of the 2025 edition. He joined the list of legends like Virat Kohli, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and others to become the eighth captain to lead RCB in the IPL. 

What makes the appointment all the more special is that the journey of Patidar in RCB over the last three years is a fairytale that makes you feel happy for him.

Patidar first came to RCB's notice back in 2020 when the scout had seen his silent growth playing for Madhya Pradesh in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. 

He had an excellent 2019 season where he scored 263 runs in seven games at a stellar strike rate of 157, scoring three fifties. His ability to generate power and hit big sixes with minimal feet movement against both pace and spin made him catch the eye of the RCB Team Director Mike Hesson. 

This resulted in Patidar getting his first IPL contract in IPL 2021, where he was signed by RCB for just 20 lakh. However, he played only four games, managing just 71 runs, and he failed to break through. This was followed by a horrible 2021 season in SMAT where he managed just 91 runs in five games. 

RCB did not intend to buy him back in the IPL 2022 mega auction and Patidar, like many other domestic players, failed to get a buyer after just one season. At that point, it felt like his IPL career had come to a rather premature end.

Who knew that the story was just beginning? Patidar found an entry to IPL 2022 though the side door as RCB eventually called him up to replace Karnataka's keeper-batter Luvnith Sisodia, who had gotten injured in the second week of the season. 

After warming the bench for the first half of the season, the right-hander got a chance to bat at No.3 in the latter part due to Kohli moving to the opening slot after the failed experiment of Anuj Rawat opening the batting. And this time around, Patidar grabbed the second lease of life in IPL with both hands, scoring a fifty in his second game against Gujarat Titans (GT). He had a couple of quick 20s and 30s in the remaining league games. 

The breakout moment for Patidar finally came in the biggest of nights as he smashed his first ever T20 century in a critical eliminator game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). His unbeaten 112 in 54 balls showcased his range, ability and talent, making him an overnight sensation. The hundred in the Eliminator sealed his spot at #3 for RCB for the 2023 season. 

Fate had other plans, however, as a heel injury that he picked up prior to IPL 2023 ruled him out for the season. But the belief that RCB had on him resulted in Patidar starting from the first game in IPL 2024.

The 2024 season was a see-saw at the beginning for Patidar as he was floating between a few batting positions for the first 4-5 games, with the team struggling to even win a single game. 

But the moment he got a quick 50 of 26 balls against Mumbai Indians (MI) sealed Patidar's place at #4 as he was fulfilling the role of a 'spin basher' coming the middle overs, taking on the spinners. He managed to hit five fifties in the season, all coming at 180+ SR. To add to that, no batter smashed more sixes in overs 7-15 than Patidar in IPL 2024 as he bludgeoned 30 of his 33 colossal sixes in this phase of play. 

He ended the season with 395 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 178, making him one of the most entertaining batters of the season alongside Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and others.

A successful IPL 2024 for Patidar sealed his spot in the RCB line up, making him one of the three retentions for the 2025 season. He returned back to leading Madhya Pradesh in SMAT after five years and had a very successful season in the 2024 edition. MP ended up making the final under Patidar’s captaincy. They lost in the final against Mumbai but Patidar was appreciated for his captaincy as he led from the front, scoring 428 runs in nine innings at a spectacular strike rate of 186 with five fifties, finishing the tournament as the second-highest run scorer.

During this tournament, the RCB management kept a close eye on Patidar’s leadership skills and were satisfied and confident in handing the leadership reigns to him as the 31-year-old was officially announced as the captain of RCB on February 13 (Thursday). 

He will, as a result, become one of the few active Indian cricketers to have led an IPL franchise without ever having played a T20I. Karun Nair for Delhi Capitals in 2017 and Mayank Agarwal for Punjab Kings in 2022 are the two other examples where active Indian cricketers led an IPL team without debuting for the national team in T20Is.

This career progression of Patidar where he came in, failed to impress, was left out, got a second chance, eventually grabbed it and overcame many an injury hurdle in order to turn himself from a replacement player to captain of RCB is a fairytale that needs to be appreciated, and will certainly be spoken about in the years to come.