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The 2025 edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to get underway from Saturday, March 22 with defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders taking on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. This fixture will see both teams stepping into the field with new skippers as Ajinkya Rahane will be leading the KKR while Rajat Patidar will be donning the captain’s hat for RCB.
Ahead of the season opener, former Punjab Kings wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, who was signed in by RCB in the IPL 2025 mega auction for INR 11 Crore, made shocking revelations. With speculations going rife on Virat Kohli taking the helm for RCB, the franchise named Rajat Patidar as their skipper.
When you have been around the game, you understand….: Jitesh Sharma
Seeing Patidar being appointed as the captain, there were questions around it and Sharma in his latest interaction with CricXtasy revealed the details around the same. "I got to know about Rajat Patidar becoming the captain when everyone else got to know. But when you have been around the game for a while, you understand the flow of things. Virat bhai did not want to captain the side," Jitesh Sharma said.
"I don't know why he did not want to captain. I am not in the management side of things; when I am, I will let you know. But he has not been captaining in the last 2-3 years, so it felt that he would not do it this year as well. So, I think Rajat was the best option," he further added.
While the exact story behind this move is only known among the management along with the man himself, but with Kohli stepping on the field as a pure batter this season, he will aim to take the franchise to lift their maiden IPL title, ending their 17-year drought.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL 2025 squad
Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Jacob Bethell, Manoj Bhandage, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee.
