Rajat Patidar entered his name in the record books on Tuesday (May 26) by becoming the first player to captain Royal Challengers Bengaluru to back-to-back Indian Premier League finals. The 32-year-old cricketer from Madhya Pradesh, who was appointed RCB’s full-time captain ahead of IPL 2025, is also the first player to lead the franchise to two IPL finals.
Before Patidar took charge of the Bengaluru-based franchise, RCB had reached three IPL finals in 17 seasons (all under different captains). But he (Patidar) has now guided them to two consecutive finals in just two seasons as captain.
Patidar, who is yet to make his T20I debut for India, is also only the fifth captain in IPL history to qualify for back-to-back IPL finals. He joined the elite
list featuring MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, and Shreyas Iyer.
Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings to four consecutive IPL finals from 2010 to 2013, while Rohit guided Mumbai Indians to back-to-back finals in 2019 and 2020. Hardik, who made his IPL captaincy debut for Gujarat Titans in 2022, led the team to the finals in both 2022 and 2023. Iyer, meanwhile, captained Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2024 final and Punjab Kings in 2025.
Patidar, who led RCB to their maiden IPL title in 2025, played a sensational knock of 93 runs off just 33 balls on Tuesday in Dharamsala to help RCB crush Gujarat Titans by 92 runs and secure a place in the IPL 2026 final.
The right-handed batter from Madhya Pradesh will now look to become only the third captain in IPL history to win back-to-back IPL titles when RCB take the field in the final on Sunday (May 31).
