Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Rajat Patidar was lost for words after his team lifted a second consecutive IPL title by beating the Gujarat Titans (GT) by five wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, he praised the team’s bowling group, individually naming each contributor, and also lauded Dinesh Karthik and Virat Kohli.
Batting first on a slow Ahmedabad surface, Gujarat struggled from the outset as Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan fell in the PowerPlay. Washington Sundar stood firm with an unbeaten 50 off 37 balls, but disciplined spells from Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Rasikh Salam Dhar prevented any significant acceleration. Gujarat’s innings never gained momentum,
finishing on a below-par 155 for 8.
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RCB launched their chase aggressively, with Virat Kohli and Venkatesh Iyer adding 62 runs in just 4.3 overs and putting Kagiso Rabada under pressure. Gujarat briefly fought back by reducing RCB to 91 for 4 through the wickets of Venkatesh, Devdutt Padikkal, Patidar, and Krunal Pandya. However, Kohli stood tall and Tim David’s quick 24 eased the pressure before the former sealed the victory with a six.
“It feels superb. When we came here, a lot of memories of last year, the way we played last year. But at the same time, we have to be more in the present and we felt good. I don’t have words to express, but I’m feeling good,” he said.
“To be honest, I never dreamt of being a captain and lifting a trophy for RCB. I think it was all written and I’m grateful for it. Obviously, last year there was a lot of pressure because it was the first year of winning the title. This year, we were pretty confident because of the way we played in this tournament and everyone was in a good frame of mind. Slightly more confident as compared to last year and it was good. It was good to see fans coming to every ground wherever we went. It felt like home ground for us. So overall it was great, great for RCB,” Patidar said.
“In the tournament I worked with DK and many players, including VK (Virat Kohli) Bhai. I got so many inputs, ideas, and they helped me. Whenever I see (Kohli), on the field and off the field also, he is always there for the team. He is always there for the players, especially the new players who are coming in. They have a lot of hesitation to speak, but he goes straight away and talks to them. So it was superb. So this one is for you again, RCB fans – Ee Salanu Cup Namdu,” he concluded.
RCB became only the third team to win back-to-back league titles.
