RCB IPL 2025 Captaincy Announcement: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) announced Rajat Patidar as their new captain ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season on February 13 (Thursday). Patidar initially joined RCB in 2021 but was released ahead of the 2022 mega auction, went unsold, returned as a replacement and has now returned to become the captain of the Bengaluru-based franchise.


Patidar was one of RCB's retained players ahead of the auction and has leadership experience, having captained Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. The 31-year-old led Madhya Pradesh to the SMAT final, where they fell short against Mumbai. He also finished as the tournament's second-highest run-scorer, amassing 428 runs in 10 matches at an average of 61 and an impressive strike rate of 186.08, only behind Ajinkya Rahane.


ALSO ON ABP Live | PAK vs SA: Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Agha Power Pakistan To Tri-Series Final With Historic Run-Chase In Karachi


While the Bengaluru-based franchise held an event in Bengaluru to announce the new captain of the franchise, RCB also dropped a 2 minutes and 30 seconds long video announcing Patidar as team's next captain.


Watch the video here:










Kohli, Pandya Were Also In The Mix For RCB Captaincy


Leading up to the captaincy announcement event, RCB also had Virat Kohli and Krunal Pandya along with Patidar as potential RCB captains. Virat Kohli has already been the team's captain for 9 years. He led RCB from 2013 to 2021 before stepping down as captain for both the franchise and the national team. He was succeeded by South Africa's Faf du Plessis, who captained RCB from 2022 to 2024 before being released ahead of the 2025 season. The 40-year-old was later acquired by Delhi Capitals in the auction.


RCB have already had seven captains in the IPL history.


Here's a look at RCB's captains in IPL over the years:


- Rahul Dravid: 2008-2008 


- Kevin Pietersen: 2009-2009 


- Anil Kumble: 2009-2010 


- Daniel Vettori: 2011-2012 


- Virat Kohli: 2011-2023 


- Shane Watson: 2017-2017


- Faf du Plessis: 2022-2024


- Rajat Patidar: 2025-