I saw their emotions – Rajat Patidar’s grand epiphany of what RCB captaincy means to him

Captaining RCB is one of the most prestigious leadership roles, but it comes with the massive weight of fan expectations. When Rajat Patidar got his first shot at captaincy for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he had to step into the massive boots of Faf du Plessis, making it a challenge he needed to handle very effectively.

In an exclusive chat with Cricbuzz, RCB captain Rajat Patidar opened up about when he realised the weight of the onus shouldered onto him. He knew the eventual challenges but the emotions in the fans’ eyes gave him an epiphany of a lifetime.

Shedding light on his initial feelings about the RCB captaincy, Patidar said, “When I was appointed, I didn’t really feel like that something massive has happened. But when we won the first title and we were still in Ahmedabad that night. Things still didn’t feel that massive. However, when we came to Bengaluru, that is when I saw the people, I saw their emotions, they way they saw me, I even saw the tears in their eyes.”

He further added, “That is when I realised that this is indeed special. That is when it dawned on me that the role I had is absolutely massive because the franchise is massive and of course the fan base is great as well. These things dawned on me after we won the title.”