Dinesh Karthik, Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s batting coach and mentor, recently explained why he believes skipper Rajat Patidar was the ‘greatest eye-opener’ for the former. Patidar & Co. will face Punjab Kings in the final of the 2025 Indian Premier League on Tuesday, June 3.
The former Royal Challengers Bangalore player praised Patidar’s humility and grace even after being named the franchise captain.
Dinesh Karthik admired Patidar’s unchanging demeanour.
“Rajat Patidar has been the biggest eye-opener in my life. Because when people suddenly receive a small amount of praise or authority, they alter. It’s normal. Their behavioural type, or how they interact. Somewhere, something will emerge. However, Rajat Patidar is a fantastic guy. “For someone who is a captain of RCB and now calls the shots, he has been exactly the same as he was before becoming captain,” Karthik said on the second episode of RCB’s Journey to the Finale.
Mo Bobat, the franchise’s Director of Cricket, appeared impressed with Patidar’s ability to interact with his teammates and make the best use of the tools available to him.
“I believe one of the most striking things Rajat has demonstrated is that, as a personality and character, anybody who knows him knows he is quite calm. And it’s been encouraging to watch him employ the guys around him, whether it’s Jitesh (Sharma) as vice-captain, Virat (Kohli) as a senior player, Krunal (Pandya) as another senior player, or even Josh Hazlewood,” Bobat added.
It’s been great seeing them gel: Bobat
Bobat remarked on the exact moment from which the team went onto develop inner belief within themselves and was happy that it was a proper all-round effort which got them to the summit clash of the tournament.
“We struggled a little bit at home to begin with, but when we managed to figure out how to win at home, that also gave the boys a lot of confidence, and then from that point onwards, we got on a bit of a roll. Getting to the season where lots of people have won one of the match awards is a good reflection of that, loads of people contributing with bat and ball was something that we really wanted as a focus. In general, we’ve had a really tight group off the field. It’s been great seeing them gel,” he mentioned.
A thumping eight-wicket victory against Punjab Kings in Qualifier 1 guaranteed RCB a berth in the final. They will face them once again, this time in the title decider in Ahmedabad. Much like their opponents, RCB will be keen on breaking their trophy drought.
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