The Indian Premier League 2025 is out on Saturday, May 17, with the decomposed tensions coming up between India and Pakistan. It is a much-awaited match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Things, though, are not looking favorable for RCB at the moment because their captain, Rajat Patidar, is nursing a finger injury he sustained in their last game against CSK before the suspension.
On a brighter note, RCB’s Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat, shared some positive news about Patidar’s recovery during a press meet. He said Patidar had started batting in practice and looks to be getting better. Bobat said, “Rajat’s going well. He had an injury to his hand, but he’s been building up ever so slowly. The break from the IPL may have given him some extra time to heal and get back to batting. He’s been practicing the last few days and he’s doing alright.”
Patidar has really stepped up this season and has made 239 runs from 11 matches at a strike rate of 140.59. Should he find himself unable to take the field against KKR or be sidelined for a considerable amount of time, RCB will have to look for a new skipper. Former skipper Virat Kohli is then likely to step up into that permanent role, having led the team until the conclusion of the 2021 season.
Another possibility is the wicketkeeper batter Jitesh Sharma, who was set to captain the side against LSG before the break; he does possess a little bit of captaincy experience from serving as vice-captain of Punjab Kings last season and could be a consideration in that regard as well.
Currently, RCB is doing well, placed at the second place on the IPL 2025 points table with 16 points from 11 games, including eight wins and a net run rate of +0.482.
