Rajat

Patidar

Rajat Patidar Biography and Career

Rajat Patidar is the newest blue-eyed boy of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru fan base after being named captain of the much-loved franchise for IPL 2025. Patidar is a right-hand batsman who plays domestic cricket for Madhya Pradesh and is part of the RCB side in the Indian Premier League.

Patidar was born in 1993 in an affluent family in Indore. His father is a businessman, and money was never really a concern in the Patidar household who dealt in manufacturing machines like pump sets. Like most young kids in India, Patidar took up cricket at a young age. His grandfather enrolled him into an academy and he quickly aced the age-group levels in Madhya Pradesh.

In fact, in his first year as a full-time first-class cricketer in 2015, Patidar smashed three centuries. But he wasn’t satisfied.

"I was expecting to score more," Patidar said at the time. "My thinking is when you get an opportunity you should not let go of it. Yeh season itna accha nahi hai. Matlab, theek hai, aur bhi accha ho sakta tha [this hasn't been a great season; it's been ok. It could have been better].”

Patidar made his T20 debut for MP in the 2017-18 season and soon became a key member of the side across formats. Patidar has always been among the runs for MP, be it Ranji Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy or the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

In his first two innings for MP, Patidar scored a century and a half-century. He was the leading run-scorer for his state in the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy season with 713 runs in eight matches and was also picked in the Duleep Trophy side in 2019.

However, not belonging to one of the bigger centres of Indian cricket, Patidar did not always get recognition at a higher level. He was initially not picked for India A tours and his name was never brought up for selection despite consistent performances.

However, a stroke of luck turned Patidar’s life around.

In 2021, he was picked by the RCB franchise for Rs 20 lakh. He played four games but did not score much and was released. He then went unsold in the 2022 IPL player auction. However, an injury to Luvnith Sisodia mid-season brought about a change in fortunes for Patidar. He was brought in at his base price of Rs 20 lakh. He even had to postpone his wedding which was slated to be held around that time in 2022 as he had to make his way to the IPL.

During the 2022 season, Patidar became the darling of the RCB crowd. In May 2022 during the Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants, Patidar scored an unbeaten 112 off just 54 balls to take RCB into Qualifier 2. In doing so, he became the first uncapped player to score a century in the playoffs stage of the IPL.

Patdidar was retained by RCB ahead of the 2023 season but he missed the IPL due to an Achilles Heel injury. However, due to his solid performances in IPL 2022, Patidar was called up to the national side.

He finally made his ODI debut against South Africa in December 2023 and scored 22. In 2024, Patidar made his Test debut against England in a five-game series replacing Virat Kohli who missed the series due to personal reasons.

Patidar had a decent IPL 2024 for RCB where he scored 395 runs in 15 innings.  After that season, there was supposed to be a big change in the RCB with regular captain Faf du Plessis slated to be phased out.

Talks of a new captain started gaining speed. Many felt RCB would go back to Virat Kohli, but the franchise shocked everyone by announcing Patidar as captain for the IPL 2025 season. It was a shock because Patidar, who had joined the franchise as a replacement player was now going to lead such a huge franchise. He says that talks surrounding his captaincy first took place after IPL 2024. At the time, he told head coach Andy Flower and Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat that he would first like to captain his state side MP and see what it feels like to captain a side. 

"I had a conversation with Mo last year," Patidar said. "I told him before getting the captaincy of RCB, I want to captain a state team."

And that's what he did. He led MP in the 2024-24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where they finished runner-up and in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. And now that he had led the team in domestic cricket, he was ready. Patidar was made RCB, a decision he felt ecstatic about. 

"I really feel good right now. If I talk about my way of captaincy, I'm not that much expressive, but at the same time, I'm aware of the situation of the matches. So I think for me it's important to back my players and stand with them and give the sort of involvement where they feel relaxed and confident. So yeah, I'm lucky that I am surrounded by one of the best people in the team and we have a group of leaders as well where their experience and ideas will definitely help in my new leadership role and growth as an individual also."

Beyond Cricket

Patidar admits that he is a very private person. He says he doesn't like to go out much and loves sleeping. Having to postpone his wedding in 2022, Patidar married Gunjan Patidar though he has kept his marriage away from media scrutiny.

Patidar has a healthy social media following. On Instagram, he has around 1.4 million followers and most of them are recent. He endorses brands such as Sareen Sports, Skechers and EATFIT. He has a net worth of Rs 2 crore. 

Records 

Test Records

• Patidar made his Test debut against England in 2024

IPL Records

• Patidar is the first uncapped player to score a century in the playoffs stage when he thrashed 112 not out against Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator in IPL 2022
• His 49-ball century was also the joint-fastest century by any player in the playoffs stage of the IPL
• He missed IPL 2023 due to an Achilles heel injury
• He was named captain of the RCB side for IPL 2025