The Indian cricketer Rajat Patidar, who took over as the captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in February 2025 has made a remarkable impact in his first season. On May 29, he led RCB to a dominant victory over Punjab Kings in the first qualifier of the IPL 2025, securing a place in the final. With this achievement, he became the fifth Indian to reach the IPL final in his debut year as captain, joining the ranks of MS Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya.
The match was played at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, Chandigarh. Rajat Patidar won the toss and chose to bowl first. Punjab Kings, captained by Shreyas Iyer, struggled to get going and was bowled out for just 101 runs in 14.1 overs. RCB easily chased the target of 102, losing only two wickets and wrapping up the game within 10 overs.
MS Dhoni was the first Indian to achieve this milestone back in 2008, when he led Chennai Super Kings to the final in the tournament’s inaugural season. Anil Kumble did it next in 2009 with RCB, although both the teams ended up as runners-up. Rohit Sharma took over as Mumbai Indians’ captain midway through the 2013 season and led them to a title win that year, defeating Dhoni’s CSK. In 2022, Hardik Pandya followed the suit by guiding Gujarat Titans to an IPL title in their debut season.
Now, Rajat Patidar has become the fourth RCB captain, after Anil Kumble, Daniel Vettori and Virat Kohli, to take the team to an IPL final. He will look to go one step further by becoming the first to actually win the trophy for the franchise. RCB has reached the final three times before but has never lifted the trophy.
The IPL 2025 final will be held on June 3 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. RCB will face the winner of the second qualifier, which will be contested between Punjab Kings and the winner of the eliminator match between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians, scheduled for May 30 in Mullanpur.
