Rajat Patidar became the first captain to lead the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to the Indian Premier League (IPL) title, as the team claimed their maiden trophy in the 18th edition of the cash-rich event. RCB beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six runs in the IPL 2025 final on Tuesday, June 3, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
With that win, Patidar became the ninth captain overall to win an IPL title, joining an elite list of players, which includes veterans like MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma. RCB also became the fourth different team to win the IPL title in the last four editions.
Speaking of the RCB vs PBKS final, Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl first. The bowlers did a good job of picking wickets at regular intervals. Still, collaborative efforts from the RCB batters saw them post a target of 191 for Punjab to chase.
Bengaluru bowlers found themselves a little worried in the initial stage of the second innings, when PBKS openers Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya got their side off to a flying start. However, things went haywire when the two were dismissed.
While it looked like Shreyas Iyer and Josh Inglis, who were both in tremendous form ahead of this game, would carry the burden and take their side over the finish line, RCB bowlers changed the course of the game by bowling crunch spells.
PBKS’ batting unit collapsed, and the team found themselves in a mix as RCB turned the tide in their favor. Shashank Singh hit some big shots in the end, but it wasn’t enough as Punjab lost the game by six runs.
With yet another edition of the IPL coming to an end, we look at the full list of captains to have won the trophy over the 18 seasons.
Vaishnavi is a cricket writer and editor at Sportskeeda with around 3 years of professional experience, having previously worked at CricTracker. Along with being a former state-level skater, winning 20+ medals in eight years, she has also played Volleyball at district level and cricket at college level.
Vaishnavi loves cricket for the camaraderie and spirit it fosters between players and likens their patriotism to the armed forces. She is a staunch supporter of the Indian Cricket Team and a strong advocate of women’s cricket. She supports RCB-W and MI-W in the WPL and CSK in the IPL.
Her role model is ex- Indian captain MS Dhoni and is a big fan of Virat Kohli’s on-field demeanor. She’s also a fan of Indian legends Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami and current captain Harmanpreet Kaur. She has had the privilege of interviewing Indian cricketers likes Smriti Mandhana, and Yuzvendra Chahal and former India cricketer, Snehal Pradhan.
Vaishnavi was also one of five female journalists (under 25 years) selected by the ICC to cover the SA vs AFG 2023 ODI World Cup match. She attended the press conferences and interacted with the likes of Gerald Coetzee and Andile Phehlukwayo.
Vaishnavi only sources information from reputed publications for her articles, and always strives to be the first to market with her news pieces. In her free time, she loves listening to music, watching FRIENDS on repeat, and exploring new restaurants.
