Rajat Patidar snubbed the like of Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers while naming his best T20 batter of all-time.
RCB ultimately ended their title drought under Patidar's leadership when they defeated Punjab Kings in the IPL final in 2025. The team successfully defended the championship in 2026, continuing its remarkable streak.
Speaking about his friendship with Virat Kohli, Patidar called it an honor to succeed one of the team's best players as captain of the RCB. From 2013 to 2021, Kohli was the captain of the RCB team. He guided RCB to the IPL 2016 final, when Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated them.
"If your idol backs you, then you don't need anything more. You don't need anyone else's support. I used to notice everything about him when he batted. I mean, from what he did on the ground to what his routine was like off the field, I noticed everything. Later, I came to know that he had backed me a lot, including when it came to the captaincy.
It is not easy to give someone the captaincy of an RCB team, considering the number of fans and the expectations. He must have seen something in me; I don't know what, but I have received a lot of support from him in the team," said Patidar on the Sports Launchpad YouTube channel.
In the same conversation, Patidar was asked to choose the best T20 batter of all-time from the options he was given. He first chose India veteran Rohit Sharma over Jos Buttler, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, Shane Watson, and David Warner.
As the session went on, Patidar chose AB de Villiers over Rohit. He then chose the Proteas great over numerous renowned names, including Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Matthew Hayden, and even former India captain MS Dhoni.
In the final, de Villiers faced Chris Gayle, forcing Patidar to make a difficult decision between two RCB legends. Ultimately, he named Gayle the greatest T20 batter of all time.
With 4,965 runs in 142 games, including 31 half-centuries and six hundreds, Gayle had an incredible IPL career. He scored 3,163 runs in 85 games for RCB alone, including five hundreds and 19 fifties. Gayle still holds the record for the highest individual score in the IPL, with his 175* at the summit, which came in IPL 2013 against Pune Warriors India.