RCB New Captain Announcement Highlights: Rajat Patidar New Captain, Here's What Virat Kohli Said
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Captaincy Announcement Highlights: Royal Challengers Bengaluru have announced batter Rajat Patidar as their new captain for the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League.
- NDTV Sports Desk
- Updated:February 13, 2025 01:27 pm IST

RCB Captain For IPL 2025 Announcement Highlights: Royal Challengers Bengaluru have announced batter Rajat Patidar as their new captain for the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League. The upcoming season is likely to begin after March 20 and RCB have got their new leader. After the mega auctions in December last year, it was likely that former skipper and star batter Virat Kohli will don the captain's hat again. However, few reports emerged which stated that Kohli himself opted out of the captaincy race. Patidar was among RCB's retained players before last year's mega auction and has the experience of leading Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (T20) and Vijay Hazare Trophy (ODI).
RCB Captain Announcement for IPL 2025 Highlights, straight from Bengaluru:
- 12:38 (IST)RCB Captain Announcement LIVE: Here's what Kohli said"Rajat, firstly I want to congratulate you and wish you all the very best. I want to tell you that the way you have grown in this franchise and the way you have performed, you have really made a place in the hearts of all the fans of RCB all over India. They get really excited to watch you play, so this is very well deserved. I want to tell you that I and the other team members will be right behind you and you'll have all our support to grow into this role."
- 12:24 (IST)RCB Captain Announcement LIVE: New chapter begins for Rajat
A new chapter begins for RCB and we couldn’t be more excited for Ra-Pa!
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) February 13, 2025
From being scouted for two to three years before he first made it to RCB in 2021, to coming back as injury replacement in 2022, missing out in 2023 due to injury, bouncing back and leading our middle… pic.twitter.com/gStbPR2fwc - 12:09 (IST)RCB Captain Announcement LIVE: Wishes for Patidar from King Kohli
𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐨𝐡𝐥𝐢 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬!
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) February 13, 2025
“Myself and the other team members will be right behind you, Rajat”: Virat Kohli
“The way you have grown in this franchise and the way you have performed, you’ve made a place in the hearts of all RCB fans. This is very well deserved.”… pic.twitter.com/dgjDLm8ZCN - 12:04 (IST)RCB Captain Announcement LIVE: Here's how the announcement was done
The next captain of RCB is…
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) February 13, 2025
Many greats of the game have carved a rich captaincy heritage for RCB, and it’s now time for this focused, fearless and fierce competitor to lead us to glory! This calmness under pressure and ability to take on challenges, as he’s shown us in the… pic.twitter.com/rPY2AdG1p5 - 11:59 (IST)RCB Captain Announcement LIVE: Faf pases the baton to Patidar
Welcome to your Raj, Ra-pa.
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) February 13, 2025
The baton has been passed, and your name has made it to the history books.
It’s time for a new chapter! Let’s give the best fans in the world what they’ve been waiting for all these years. #PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #RCBCaptain #Rajat #RajatPatidar… pic.twitter.com/AKwjM9bnsq - 11:41 (IST)RCB Captain Announcement LIVE: Fans also excited for WPL 2025
"𝙒𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙡𝙚."
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) February 12, 2025
The 12th Man Army had their say about our #WPL2025 Squad, and you can catch it all on @BigBasket_Com presents 12th Man TV!
Now, it’s your turn, what… pic.twitter.com/z0eHv1FJVR - 11:32 (IST)RCB Captain Announcement LIVE: Announcement soonThe official announcement of the new captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru for IPL 2025 can be made anytime soon. Just a quick recap, Rajat Patidar, Krunal Pandya, and Phil Salt are the frontrunners as Virat Kohli as opted out. Stay tuned for all the live updates.
- 11:14 (IST)RCB Captain Announcement LIVE: RCB drops big hint
Hint dropped by RCB
— Sujeet (@itz_your_sujeet) February 13, 2025
RCB Captain Rajat Patidar jersey no. 97 pic.twitter.com/60BQITgA3g - 11:03 (IST)RCB Captain Announcement LIVE: Here's what former RCB star Dinesh Karthik says
𝗥𝗖𝗕 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗬𝗮𝗮𝗿𝘂?
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) February 13, 2025
You’ve almost heard it from Batting Coach and Mentor 𝗗𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗵 𝗞𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗸!
We’re announcing the Captain of RCB TODAY at 11:30 am. Stay tuned… @DineshKarthik | #RCBCaptainYaaru #PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB pic.twitter.com/C33UOdMVWx - 10:53 (IST)RCB Captain Announcement LIVE: RCB's solid win vs CSKIn the last league stage match of IPL 2024, Royal Challengers Bengaluru square off against the five-time champions Chennai Super Kings. It was a must-win game for both the teams and RCB posted 218/5 after batting first. CSK put up a great fight but got restricted to 191/7 as RCB marched into the Playoffs.
- 10:47 (IST)RCB Captain Announcement LIVE: RCB's performance in 2024Royal Challengers Bengaluru started their IPL 2024 campaign on a horrendous note. Out of the first eight games, RCB lost seven and were placed at the bottom of the points table. However, Faf du Plessis and co bounced back in style and won all the remaining six games and entered the playoffs. However, they lost against Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator match and got eliminated.
- 10:37 (IST)RCB Captain Announcement LIVE: Another strong candiateIf Royal Challenger Bengaluru are looking for an overseas captain for the upcoming IPL, then England wicketkeeper-batter Phil Salt can be the strongest pick. The aggressive batter is strong opener, who can provide a good foundation to the batting lineup with his powerful hitting. Salt, who earlier played for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2024, also has an experience of captaincy. He led England in a T20I series against Australia in the absence of Jos Buttler.
- 10:21 (IST)RCB Captain Announcement LIVE: Bhuvneshwar in raceApart from Rajat Patidar and Krunal Pandya, RCB also have a strong captaincy option in the form of Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The 35-year-old pacer was bought by RCB for Rs 10.75 crore during the mega auctions in December last year. Earlier, he played for Sunrisers Hyderabad and even led them on few occasions.
- 10:12 (IST)RCB Captain Announcement LIVE: Kohli's brilliant run as RCB leaderVirat Kohli has led RCB in 143 matches, the second longest stint as captain after the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni for Chennai Super Kings. Kohli has 68 wins and 70 losses and four no-results to show as RCB leader. In 2016, Kohli had led the franchise to the IPL final, and made 973 runs, to date the highest for a batter in a single IPL season. In IPL 2024, Kohli was the top run-getter with 741 runs at a strike-rate of 154.
- 10:08 (IST)RCB Captain Announcement LIVE: Krunal Pandya a good choiceAll-rounder Krunal Pandya can be a strong captaincy pick for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Earlier, he also captained Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2023 during the absence of KL Rahul. Apart from this, he has been leading Baroda in domestic cricket. With loads of experience, Krunal will be a strong captain for RCB.
- 09:58 (IST)RCB Captain Announcement LIVE: Two main frontrunnersIf the report of Virat Kohli's disinterest in captaincy is true, then the management will face daunting task while choosing their new leader. Looking at the current squad, batter Rajat Patidar and all-rounder Krunal Pandya are the frontrunners for the position. Patidar was among RCB's retained players ahead of the auction and has the experience of leading Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy.
- 09:56 (IST)RCB Captain Announcement LIVE: Kohli unlikely to lead?Virat Kohli was the RCB captain between 2013 and 2021 before stepping down as Faf du Plessis took over. However, a report by the Times of India states that the star India batter has conveyed to the RCB management that he may not take up the captaincy in IPL 2025. Kohli has a fine record as RCB captain, though he could not land them the title.