Who Is the Captain of RCB 2026? Meet Rajat Patidar -the Man Who Ended 18 Years of Waiting

Rajat Patidar is the skipper of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for IPL 2026. In February 2025, he was appointed as the franchise’s captain, and took the squad to its first IPL Championship in the same year. With his guidance, RCB managed to defend the title in 2026, further establishing their reputation as a successful IPL team.

Rajat Patidar was born in Indore, Madhya Pradesh on June 1, 1993 and plays right-handed for the state of Madhya Pradesh in India’s domestic cricket. His career from uncapped IPL player to a title-winning captain includes a career-defining century in the 2022 IPL playoffs, and an international debut and consistent performances for RCB.

In this article, the readers will get to know the age, education, family, cricket career, IPL records, captaincy, salary and estimated net worth of Rajat Patidar along with his achievements till 2026.

Rajat Patidar Profile

Rajat Patidar was born on June 1, 1993, to Indore, Madhya Pradesh – a city that has a long history of producing local cricketing talent that does not necessarily receive the national exposure it deserves. His real name is Rajat Manohar Patidar, and the middle name was given after his father, Manohar Patidar, an agricultural pump business proprietor.

It was not a family of cricketers in the literal meaning of this word – none of them had a profession in the field. However, his father encouraged it when eight-year old Rajat developed early interest in the game. His grandfather did not stop there: he took the boy to a cricket academy, the official start of what would eventually grow to be a 25-year career that would see the boy become an IPL captain. Rekha Patidar is a homemaker and he has a sister, Aarti Patidar, who is older.

What is interesting to learn about his early years is the resistance that he received later. In 2014, a severe ACL knee injury struck him, and his relatives encouraged him to forego surgical intervention and pursue a degree and enter the family business. He needed real persuasion before he could convince them to allow him to have the operation and keep playing. That obstinacy – silent, tenacious, and at the end right – would be a characteristic feature.

Educational Qualification and Early Cricket

Rajat began as a bowler, and not a batter. That is not evident in his profile now, but it is the fact that he started playing as a pace bowler then moved to off-spin so that he could have more chances in junior level. Only after his U-15 days was the switch to batting suggested as a major role. It is the sort of early-career malleability that usually indicates a cricketer that is still working out how to remain on the field rather than how to play on it.

He did not play age group cricket at the national stage and so, he lacked these formal stepping-stone opportunities enjoyed by fast-track players. His entrance into state Cricket with Madhya Pradesh was more tedious and sluggish. He finished his formal education but has maintained the information secret – no college degrees are established within the public record.

His first-class appearance happened on 30 October 2015, in the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy to Madhya Pradesh against Baroda in Vadodara. His first innings was 60 and in the second one he scored 101. An introduction where your second century in first-class cricketing is a debut is not a subtle introduction. In the same year, his List-A debut came in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in which he scored a half-century in 40 balls at a strike rate of 132.50.

Career Highlights: Replacement Player to IPL Winning Captain.

The domestic grind (2015-2020)

Patidar was everything most domestic players are: a consistent, progressing player who was simply not getting the chance that would transform his fortunes, a half-decade after making his debut. His 713 runs in 8 Ranji Trophy matches in 2018-19 made him the top run-scorer in Madhya Pradesh – a truly good season in a competitive game. He represented India Blue in the Duleep Trophy 2019- 20. He was recognized, though not exactly called.

IPL 2021: A quiet debut

In the February 2021 IPL auction, Royal Challengers Bangalore purchased him at his base price of Rs 20 lakh. He appeared in 4 games and made 71 runs at a strike rate of 114.52 before they later released him. Not a failure per se, but no more than that. He was not sold at the IPL 2022 mega auction and appeared to have been heading into the list of domestic talent which never really translates.

The moment of change on a phone call. In mid-season 2022, the wicketkeeper of RCB, Luvnith Sisodia became injured. RCB referred Patidar as a replacement – this time around 20 lakh. Of particular interest here is this detail: Rajat had initially planned his wedding date as May 9, 2022. He waited in order to be part of the team. On July 7, 2022 he and Gunjan Patidar got married. The fact that decision, that he should take his second chance more seriously than the party, tells you something about the seriousness with which he had taken his second chance.

May 25, 2022: The game that made a career.

RCB was playing Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL Eliminator at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Patidar entered the field and scored 112 not out with 54 balls – 12 fours, 7 sixes. RCB posted 207/4. This was the first century of the uncapped player in the IPL playoff and this made him the first uncapped player to score a century. It was also the fastest playoff century in the history of the IPL by the joint, having occurred on 49 balls, the same record as Wriddhiman Saha set in the 2014 final.

He scored 333 runs in 8 matches at an average of 55.50 and a strike rate of 152.75 at the end of the 2022 season. He had come in as an interim and ended a third-highest run-scorer in RCB.

IPL 2023: The Achilles setback

Still under contract until the 2023 season, he sustained an Achilles heel injury prior to the season and missed the whole season. Surgery followed. In 2023-24, he came back to domestic cricket without any regression – not assured, now he had a major tendon injury and surgery.

Meanwhile, in 2024, Rajat Patidar delivered an impressive performance as a striker in the Indian Premier League. He scored 395 runs in 13 innings across 15 matches, registering five half-centuries at a remarkable strike rate of 177.13. Earlier, he had made his ODI debut for India national cricket team on December 21, 2023, against South Africa national cricket team, scoring 22 runs off 16 balls in his first international appearance. His Test debut came on 2 February 2024 to England in Visakhapatnam – he was deputized to replace Virat Kohli. He received a score of 32 and 9, a hard initiation into Test cricket against a good attack. In March 2024, BCCI gave him a Grade C central contract, making him the first Madhya Pradesh cricketer to receive a BCCI central contract.

SMAT 2024-25 and the captaincy case

In the 2024-25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Patidar represented Madhya Pradesh and hit 428 at an average of 61.14 and a strike rate of 186.08 in 9 innings. He took this team to the final where they lost to Mumbai where he got 81 not out in 40 balls. It was a performance of a captain who leads at the front and just landed on the radar of RCB at the right time.

February 13, 2025: Named RCB captain

The captaincy was vacant with Faf du Plessis not retained at the end of the fourth season as captain. And, although Virat Kohli was prepared to have another go at it, and had been at the helm of RCB since 2013, RCB director of cricket Mo Bobat made the conscious decision to appoint Patidar to it instead. His logic, which was published later: The simple thing would have been to say, Virat, will you mind filling in and doing captaincy? But then you are simply delaying an important decision. Moreover, the team cannot always rely on Virat Kohli in the long run. Instead, the move was about planning for the future rather than depending on past solutions.

IPL 2025: RCB’s first ever title.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru, under the captaincy of Patidar, beat Punjab Kings in the final to become the IPL champions, marking their first championship win in 18 years. Patidar is only the fourth captain in the history of IPL to win the championship in his very first season in the captaincy, joining the ranks of Shane Warne and Hardik Pandya. He had a win percentage during the 2025 season of IPL of 76.92. The picture of Virat Kohli, who was filled with emotion after finally receiving the title, could not be detached as the story of a person making it possible.

IPL 2026: Rajat Patidar Leads RCB to Back-to-Back Titles

Rajat Patidar started his winning streak this time in the IPL 2026 by captaining Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to their second IPL title in back to back seasons. RCB secured their first title in 2025 and defended their title against Gujarat Titans on 31st May 2026 with a five-wicket victory.
Patidar also made a huge contribution with the bat, running 501 runs in 15 matches with 192.69 strike rate and an average of 41.75 for 501 runs. He has scored 93 not out in his best game, against Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1.
RCB signed Patidar for ₹11 crore before the season 2026. His ability to win back-to-back titles has solidified his standing as a leader and has helped make him a major player in the team’s success in recent years.

Personal Life

Rajat Patidar is averse to being in the public eye when it comes to his personal life. Born to a family in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, he had a father named Manohar Patidar who was against him taking up professional cricket and preferred him to do his family business.

Rajat Patidar’s wedding date with Gunjan Patidar was on July 7, 2022. His wedding was originally scheduled for May 2022 but had to be postponed after his injury was replaced by him when he got an opportunity to play for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL 2022. Later in the season he scored a maiden unbroken century against Lucknow Super Giants, a major milestone in his career.

Patidar has also welcomed a baby boy on March 2026, adding a new chapter to his personal life as the RCB captain. Though he has become popular, he has been keeping his personal information about his family to himself and has been concentrating on his cricket career.

Rajat Patidar and RCB: Latest Update Ahead of IPL 2027

Rajat Patidar has joined the conversation about IPL 2027 after guiding Royal Challengers Bengaluru to back‑to‑back IPL titles in 2025 and 2026. The official IPL profile of the franchise names Rajat Patidar as captain placing Rajat Patidar at the heart of RCB’s plans for the season.

Another point of interest is the support Rajat Patidar received from Virat Kohli. In a September 2026 interview reported by NDTV Sports Rajat Patidar talked about Virat Kohli’s encouragement after Rajat Patidar was named captain. This relationship provides insight into how RCB built its leadership team.

Now the focus shifts to RCB’s retention choices and the IPL 2027 mini‑auction. The announced November 15 2026 retention deadline offers franchises a date to lock in their squads. When the franchise or IPL releases news RCB’s final plans, for Rajat Patidar and the rest of the squad should be updated.

Net Worth and Earnings (As of 2026)

As of 2026, Rajat Patidar estimate net worth to be around Rs 25 crore. Other sources of his income are his IPL retention fee of Rs 11 crore (the same is also applicable in the case of IPL 2026), his BCCI Grade C central contract fee of Rs 1 crore per year, domestic cricket fees in Madhya Pradesh, and commercial endorsements such as Sareen Sports. The way his IPL has gained him a whopping 20 lakh to 11 crore in four seasons, is a simple manifestation of how a breakthrough performance and follow-up can make to a cricketer market value.

(Disclaimer: Net worth figures are media estimates, not official disclosures. Updated October 26, 2026.)

Conclusion

Rajat answers the question of Who Is the Captain of RCB. Patidar – and there is a tale of it, which most people are not well aware of. He entered the 2022 IPL as a replacement value of Rs 20 lakh, had adjourned his own wedding in the hope, made a century in the Eliminator which was one of the most replayed innings in IPL history, survived an Achilles injury, received an India call-up at 30 something years old, and helped RCB win a title that had eluded the franchise in 18 years.

Rajat Patidar did not become an obvious choice for the captaincy. However, Virat Kohli was available and ready to take up the role again. Instead, RCB chose Patidar because the franchise believed it was a better long-term decision than relying on a well-known name. That speculation was successful at the very beginning. He is 32 and he will continue to hold the captaincy in IPL 2026 and he will be in charge of the defence of the title which will remain in a way unreal to all that waited. Should you wish to keep up the 2026 campaign of RCB, you begin by knowing the man who will lead it – and now you know.

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