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‘All The Best, Buddy’: Faf du Plessis Passes On The Baton To Rajat Patidar

Bhargav Dixit

Rajat Patidar has played 23 matches under Faf du Plessis. [Source: @IPL/X]Rajat Patidar has played 23 matches under Faf du Plessis. [Source: @IPL/X]

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Former captain Faf du Plessis has officially passed on the baton to Rajat Patidar, RCB’s eighth captain in the Indian Premier League. du Plessis, who captained the franchise 42 times (second-highest) between 2022-2024, said words of wisdom to someone who excelled under his captaincy.

In spite of Royal Challengers Bengaluru not retaining or bidding for him ahead of IPL 2025, du Plessis featuring in such a video speaks highly about the culture at one of the most loved franchises in the biggest T20 tournament across the globe.


Faf du Plessis Assures Rajat Patidar Of Support From Leadership Group

Part of Delhi Capitals now, du Plessis congratulated Patidar before assuring him of unrelenting support from the owners and the leadership group. The former South African captain made it a point to advice the 31-year-old player to not let the additional responsibility affect his hard-hitting batting.

“It’s a great honour captaining any IPL team but it’s really special being the captain of RCB. You’ll see [that] the owners will be truly there to support you all the way. Also, coaching staff is there with their experience to guide you to make sure that you find your feet and have a great time as a captain. Lastly, you have a great leadership group that will be there with you to support you all the way,” du Plessis said in a video posted by Bengaluru.

For the unversed, du Plessis is the only captain under whom Patidar has played over 20 T20 matches. In addition to an average and strike rate of 38.31 and 165.07 respectively, the right-handed batter has also scored his lone century and seven half-centuries in the format under him.

Highly likely to bat at No. 3 during the 18th season of the IPL, Patidar will captain overseas players namely Josh Hazlewood, Liam Livingstone, Phil Salt, Tim David, Lungi Ngidi, Jacob Bethell, Romario Shepherd and Nuwan Thushara.