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Veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle praised former Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli’s humility in accepting Rajat Patidar as the new captain of the franchise early last year.
Ahead of the 2025 season, RCB appointed Rajat Patidar as their captain after failing to buy previous current player Faf du Plessis in the mega auction. Patidar had become the captain of Madhya Pradesh by that time.
Kohli was RCB captain between 2013 and 2021 before stepping down from the role, prompting the franchise to include Faf du Plessis in 2022. The South African remained as captain until 2024 before leaving.
RCB under the leadership of Rajat Patidar
Captain Rajat Patidar joined hands with the think-tank of head coach Andy Flower, director of cricket Mo Bobt and batting coach/mentor Dinesh Karthik to achieve quick success.
In 2025, RCB won their first IPL trophy to end their 18-year wait for silverware. RCB’s engine room is continuing at the same pace to make it to the finals once again this year. Not only this, Rajat Patidar also took RCB to the top of the points table in IPL 2026.
We have seen what happens when players are unhappy with the captain – Harsha Bhogle
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Harsha Bhogle lauded Virat Kohli for accepting Patidar with open arms and even making the announcement himself.
In a video posted by RCB on social media, Virat Kohli announced Patidar as the captain of the team and urged all RCB fans to support the new announcement. Du Plessis, too, had “officially” handed over command to Patidar.
Harsha Bhogle on Virat and Rajat :
“Virat Kohli himself announced Rajat Patidar as the new RCB captain and welcomed him, this was in a big part because Virat was happy with it. We have seen that when senior players are unhappy with the new captain it destroys the entire team”
(Cricbuzz) pic.twitter.com/mIqDkkTbPT
– The Cricket View (@TheCricketView) 27 May 2026
“Virat Kohli’s contribution behind Patidar was a big part of RCB’s success,” Bhogle said. “We have seen what happens when players are unhappy with the captain. If Virat was unhappy with Patidar, it would have destroyed RCB.”
Harsha Bhogle on Virat and Rajat :
“Virat Kohli himself announced Rajat Patidar as the new RCB captain and welcomed him, this was in a big part because Virat was happy with it. We have seen that when senior players are unhappy with the new captain it destroys the entire team”
(Cricbuzz) pic.twitter.com/mIqDkkTbPT
– The Cricket View (@TheCricketView) 27 May 2026
Although he did not take any names, it is easy to conclude that Bhogle might be referring to Hardik Pandya’s failure at Mumbai Indians.
After playing for the franchise as a player for eight years, Pandya left Mumbai Indians to join Gujarat Titans in 2022. In his first year as an IPL team, Pandya led GT to the IPL title. In 2023, Pandya and GT topped the points table and made it to the finals. GT was winning the final until Ravindra Jadeja scored 10 runs on the last 2 balls of the match.
Just before the 2024 season, Pandya was transferred from GT to MI and was replaced by Rohit Sharma as the MI captain. Whenever Pandya came out for the toss in IPL 2024, he was jeered and jeered.
There was no public support for captain Hardik Pandya by any senior MI player. In 2024, MI finished last in the points table. Pandya retained his position as captain and led the team to Qualifier 2 in 2025 by winning 1 out of 5 matches.
In 2026, none of this happened. Mumbai Indians avoided lagging behind in terms of net run rate in IPL 2026. Now there is speculation that Pandya may lose his armband in MI.
Virat Kohli in IPL 2026
Despite not being the captain, Virat Kohli has been the rock on which RCB’s batting has been built. Last year, he was the team’s leading run-scorer as they won their first IPL title.
And this year also he has continued this trend. With 600 runs in 15 matches, Virat Kohli is still the leading run-scorer for RCB in IPL 2026. 2026 marks the fourth consecutive IPL season in which Kohli has crossed the 600-run barrier.
His runs have come at an average of 50 and a strike rate of 164. He has already scored 4 half-centuries and one century this year.
Also read: Ravichandran Ashwin admits he always wanted to play for RCB