In a statement of massive praise and belief, Royal Challengers Bangalore legend and former South African captain AB de Villiers has said that if he had to give someone his now retired number 17 jersey of the franchise, he would choose Indian batter Rajat Patidar for the same. It is worth highlighing that Patidar was one of the best performers from the RCB camp last season and even scored a hundred for them in the Eliminator against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
However, in a huge blow to the franchise's chances this season, the Madhya Pradesh batter was ruled out of the entire season. He has been replaced by Vysakh Vijaykumar. Having said that De Villiers is a huge believed in Patidar's ability and reckons that he can go on to become a stalwart of the franchise in the years to come.
"That's a tough question. Maybe Rajat Patidar. "The Pata Man". I gave him that nickname. He looks good. He will be a stalwart for RCB in the future. I want to give it to a youngster, maybe Rajat," De Villiers said while speaking on the RCB Insider as quoted in a report by Sportskeeda.
De Villiers also spoke about his former national teammate and old friend Faf du Plessis coming to RCB and becoming its captain. The South African said that he always felt that Du Plessis will come to the franchise at some stage.
"Always. I knew it was going to happen (Du Plessis to RCB). Faf is the perfect fit. I think he is going to bring us a trophy. I think he is very happy. When he arrived here, he realized why I have always been so happy over the years," he added.
Despite starting their IPL 2023 campaign with a win, RCB currently find themselves at the eighth position on the points table with 2 wins and 3 defeats and a net run rate of -0.318.