Skinning the cat RCB way: Flower explains how Kohli's fire & Patidar's ice can both win

The squads of all the Indian Premier League (IPL) teams have created a lot of hype right from the mega auctions. While some teams have already announced the changes at the helm for their IPL 2025 campaign, one of the most popular franchises, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) left the fans and experts debating about whether Virat Kohli will once again take the captaincy or not. However, on Thursday (February 13), all the speculations and debates were over after Rajat Patidar was named as the new captain. 

Interestingly, apart from Kohli. there were plenty of big match players in RCB which included the likes of Liam Livingstone, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Phil Salt as potential leaders after Faf du Plessis was released by the franchise. While some people thought that Virat Kohli was going to be leading the side once again, Patidar was handed the reigns. As a result, there were a lot of questions being asked about RCB's think tank decision. RCB head coach Andy Flower came forward and beautifully explained the different captaincy styles of Virat Kohli and Patidar. Besides, Flower also shared the reasons for picking Patidar as the skipper ahead of the Indian legend.

“There are different ways to skin a cat. There is no single way to lead, and my job as coach is to mould myself based on the captain I am working with. Virat's energy, motivation, and drive is special to have in a 36-year-old. It's great role-modelling for the younger players, Indian and overseas. He has a great cricket mind, and the skipper's responsibility is to listen, assess, and make his own decision. Rajat is absolutely capable of this," Flower said during the press conference.

I got a hint of getting RCB captaincy: Rajat Patidar 

Though Rajat Patidar has not had much of a stint in international cricket like the previous RCB skippers in the past, he has given great performances for the Bengaluru-based franchise. Notably, Patidar also led Madhya Pradesh to the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) in the 2024-25 season. After being named as the captain, the 31-year-old opened up on how he got to know that he was one of the choices to lead the franchise along with Virat Kohli.

Also Read: IPL 2025: Rajat Patidar named RCB captain as Virat Kohli declines

“Last year Mo Bobat asked me if I am interested in captaining RCB. From there I got a hint of getting RCB captaincy. I got this info of either Virat or I will be the captain, so I was immensely happy,” Patidar said during RCB's press conference.