IPL 2025, KKR vs RCB: New Leaders, fresh start | Cricket News
KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane and RCB skipper Rajat Patidar (Photo Credit: KKR/RCB) KOLKATA: Rajat Patidar will be happy to be back at the Eden Gardens. It was here, back in 2022, that Patidar’s cricketing career changed overnight. In a squad having players like Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell, it was Patidar who stood tall that night against Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL Eliminator. Coming in to bat at No. 3, Patidar got his first T20 century as he set the Eden stands on fire, hitting 12 fours and seven sixes to remain unbeaten on 112 off 54 balls. That incidentally remains the highest IPL score at this venue.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!On Saturday, he will be arriving in a new avatar, donning the captain’s hat for the first time for a franchise. With RCB yet to win the trophy, there will be pressure on him. But adjusting to situations is all that counts in a fast-paced tournament like the IPL. Patidar has matured as a skipper, leading Madhya Pradesh to the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 final last season and ending up as the second-highest run-getter in the tournament. When it comes to leadership, KKR will also be no different. In any sport, it’s not often that we get to see a side parting ways with its winning skipper. But KKR decided to walk a different path as they released Shreyas Iyer, who won them their third IPL trophy last year. They also lost their think-tank after mentor Gautam Gambhir, who was largely credited for their revival after back-to-back seventh-place finishes, took up the national team’s coaching job and Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate also joined him. Naming Ajinkya Rahane, who did not seem to be KKR’s first-choice player — he was picked up in the mega auction at his base price, that too on the second call — as their new skipper could prove to be a double-edged sword for the defending champions. Back in KKR after 2022, Rahane will not only have to rebuild a winning formula with coach Chandrakant Pandit and new mentor Dwayne Bravo, but he will also have to score consistently to cement his place in the power-packed batting side. Although not a natural T20 player, Rahane has great credentials as a skipper. Who can forget India’s greatest-ever overseas Test triumph under him at the Gabba in Jan 2021! Rahane has won all the three ODI games that he has captained India in and got one victory in two T20Is as the skipper. He also won the Ranji and Irani titles as skipper in 2024 and top-scored for Mumbai in the Mushtaq Ali T20 meet scoring 469 runs in eight matches at a strike rate of 164.56. But his IPL record is not that encouraging. Captaining a side (RR) last in the IPL in 2019, he won just nine of the 25 matches. For the skippers, there’s so much to play for in this IPL.Get the latest IPL 2025 updates on Times of India, including match schedules, team squads, and live scores for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Find out how to watch IPL 2025 in Canada and the USA.
