IPL 2026 final, RCB vs GT – Rajat Patidar: ‘We didn’t just play, we dominated’

When Rajat Patidar finally entered the press conference room in Ahmedabad shortly after 1am on Monday with the IPL trophy, there was a broad smile on his face. For a man who rarely gives much away, it was as telling as any words could be. The occasional glance and feel of the trophy next to him reflected the satisfaction of a captain who had just led Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to a second straight title.

The timing made the moment even sweeter. It was now his 33rd birthday.

“I’m feeling great… it’s a great feeling. it’s my birthday. There can’t be a better gift than this,” he said. “The individual that I am, I always focus on living in the present. We have won back-to-back, we’ll celebrate but the focus will be how we can now do this three in a row. It can’t get better than this. When you win trophies, you don’t look at individual performances. Nothing is bigger than this.”

Asked to compare the two journeys to the title, Patidar felt 2026 had a stamp of inevitability because of their dominance through the group stages.

“Last year was a lot of pressure,” he said. “[This year] I was more calm. The way we played through the tournament, we didn’t just play but we dominated. I was confident if we played like this, we could win the second title for RCB.

“As a captain, I’m not very expressive, but at the same time I’m aware of game situations. Of course you need backing, there was a lot of it from the management and players.”

One of the things he worked doubly hard on was to compartmentalise his batting and captaincy. The ground work on his batting was done in the off-season with Dinesh Karthik, which handsomely paid off during the season – Patidar finished with 501 runs at a strike rate of 192.69. These are his best returns in a single season since his debut in 2021.

“The [team] culture has changed. I don’t know what it was before 2021. But from when I’ve come in, there have been a lot of changes in the mindset of players. All credit to the coaching staff, the way they’ve been handling the players. Especially the new players who are also an important part of the team. The coaching staff treats every player equally – that’s a big change”

Rajat Patidar on RCB’s coaching staff

“I took a lot of learnings as captain and batter,” he said. “I look at how much time I give myself to bat, I spent a lot of time at the nets before the season… just me and the bowlers. There was a lot of communication with DK bhai, regarding my trigger movements and some technical adjustments. When I came to the IPL, I continued that and was able to execute. That gave a lot of clarity to me as a batter. As captain, I learnt a lot [from] Faf du Plessis, how he presents himself, how his body language is always confident. That has taught me a lot.”

Patidar was also extremely appreciative of Omkar Salvi’s efforts as bowling coach. In a team that has a star-studded coaching panel, Salvi has often flown under the radar, but Patidar spoke of his influence as key. Particularly on their younger players, like Rasikh Salam, who enjoyed a terrific season – picking up 19 wickets, second-best for the team behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

“I’ve seen Omkar Salvi sir from my first Ranji season [in 2015],” Patidar said. “He spends lot of time one-on-one with every bowler. There is a lot of hard work that Salvi sir has done for the team. You won’t see him in the meeting room, he spends time one-on-one with the bowlers.”

He also expressed heartfelt appreciation for Andy Flower, another coach who prefers to deflect a lot of the attention onto the players.

“I’ve played five seasons of the IPL and he is one of the best coaches,” Patidar said. “The way he handles players, not only those who play. For him the players who aren’t playing, the first-timers, he spends a lot of time with every individual. I don’t have words to express, but he’s the best coach I’ve played under.

“The [team] culture has changed. I don’t know what it was before 2021. But from when I’ve come in, there have been a lot of changes in the mindset of players. All credit to the coaching staff, the way they’ve been handling the players. Especially the new players who are also an important part of the team. The coaching staff treats every player equally – that’s a big change.”

The only time the interaction took a sombre turn was when Patidar reflected on the tragedy that followed RCB’s first title last year, when 11 fans lost their lives in a stampede outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium during the celebrations. For much of the interaction, Patidar spoke about trophies, title defences and the pursuit of a third championship. But in his moment of glory, he also paused to remember those who were not around to celebrate.

“You feel bad obviously, you lost your fans after winning the game…not fans, family members,” he said. “So I want to dedicate this trophy to them. No words to express.”

Shashank Kishore is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo

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