Rajat Patidar matched a feat only achieved by Shane Warne previously |Courtesy - BCCI/IPL
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Rajat Patidar created history by leading RCB to the 2025 IPL
- Patidar is yet to make his T20I debut for India
- The 2025 season was Patidar's first as captain for RCB
Rajat Patidar etched his name in the history books after leading Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) title. Patidar lifted the trophy in his first season in the top job and became the first title-winning skipper from the Bengaluru-based franchise.
Patidar, who has played just three Tests and 1 ODI for India, achieved a feat that some of the greatest players in the history of the game could not. Rahul Dravid, Kevin Pietersen, Anil Kumble, Daniel Vettori, Virat Kohli, and Faf du Plessis have led RCB on a permanent basis, but all of them failed to land the trophy in Bengaluru.
After Faf was released last year, RCB did not bid big for a new captain in the mega auction and instead trusted Patidar with the job after retaining him for Rs. 11 crore. The decision proved a masterstroke as Patidar lifted the trophy after RCB defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 2025 IPL final.
Rajat Patidar Creates History
Patidar has become the first Indian player in history to become an IPL-winning captain before making his T20I debut. Overall, the RCB skipper is only the second player to achieve the feat after Shane Warne, who never played in the shortest format of the game for Austarlia. Warne was IPL's first-ever title-winning skipper after he led Rajasthan Royals (RR) to victory in the inaugural season in 2008.
T20Is Played By IPL Winning Captains
| Captains |
T20Is Played At Time Of First Title Win As Captain |
Total Career T20Is played |
Years Title Win |
| Shane Warne (Rajasthan Royals) |
0 |
0 |
2008 |
| Adam Gilchrist (Deccan Chargers) |
13 |
13 |
2009 |
| MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) |
20 |
95 |
2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, 2023 |
| Gautam Gambhir (Kolkata Knight Riders) |
26 |
37 |
2012, 2014 |
| Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) |
35 |
159 |
2013,2015,207,2019,2020 |
| David Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad) |
61 |
110 |
2016 |
| Hardik Pandya (Gujarat Titans) |
54 |
114 |
2022 |
| Shreyas Iyer (Kolkata Knight Riders) |
51 |
51 |
2024 |
| Rajat Patidar (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) |
0 |
0 |
2025 |
Patidar is only the fourth captain in history to win the title in his debut season leading a franchise after Warne, Rohit, and Hardik.
Patidar, who won the title in his 13th match as IPL captain, is the joint-quickest alongside Rohit, while both Hardik and Warne lifted the trophy in their 15th game, leading a side in the league.
Despite dealing with a finger injury with forced him to play two matches as an impact sub where Jitesh Sharma led the side, Patidar made 312 runs in 14 innings at an average of 24 and a strike-rate of 143.77. He was the Player of the Match (POTM) in the vital away victories against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI).
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