Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh believes Rajat Patidar’s captaincy future at Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) could be uncertain if the team underperforms in IPL 2025. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Harbhajan stressed that the upcoming season will be a massive test for both Patidar as the new RCB skipper and the franchise itself.
Patidar was appointed as RCB’s eighth captain in February, taking over from Faf du Plessis, who has since moved to Delhi Capitals. Leading a franchise as prominent as RCB, despite their elusive search for a maiden IPL title, already brings significant pressure. Harbhajan pointed out that expectations will weigh heavily on Patidar’s shoulders in his first season at the helm.
“For someone like Patidar, it will be a huge challenge. Captaining a big team like that is not going to be easy. Deciding which players to leave out, who to bowl when. This is not something that he has done before. People think captaining your country is tough, but I think its even tougher leading a franchise because I have done it,” Harbhajan said.
“Patidar will face a lot of pressure, people will have a lot of expectations from him because RCB have not yet won a trophy. Leading superstars like Virat Kohli, who is the main man of the team. Managing all of these things and then his own batting. RCB say that they have made Patidar captain for 5 seasons, but if they don’t perform well this season, we’ll have to see where Patidar stands,” he added.
