Former India batter Aakash Chopra shared his views on Rajat Patidar and Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy debuts for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), respectively, in the opening match of IPL 2025 on Saturday. In a battle of two new captains, the less-experience Patidar outclassed the senior-pro Rahane as RCB thrashed the defending champions KKR by 7 wickets. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra credited Patidar for the win, despite admitting that the initial signs weren’t promosing from a captaincy point of view.
“I was wondering how would Rajat Patidar fare as a captain. I honestly felt he missed a trick. The first three overs were good. In the fourth over, he brought Salam, and then had Krunal in the fifth. I was thinking, ‘Don’t do that.’ Rahane capitalised and kept scoring runs, and they reached 100 in 10 overs. KKR should have scored 200, but that is where the comeback began. Thumbs down for Patidar’s captaincy in the first 10 overs, but then it looked like the match could head the other way. I mean, Krunal took three wickets. We kept saying, RCB’s weakest link was their spinners. But that became their strength. Krunal was good despite an expensive first over. Suyash was delivering very loose balls, but he dismissed Russell. KKR eventually did not even score 175. They will be disappointed,” said Chopra.
Speaking on Rahane, Chopra felt the former Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain missed a trick by not bringing Sunil Narine to the attack in the Powerplay.
“What I felt about Patidar, became true for Rahane. Why weren’t you bringing Narine? What were you waiting for? They kept scoring runs and KKR delayed Narine’s introduction. Rahane missed the trick there. Thumbs down for KKR. Thumbs up for RCB,” he added.
Chopra also praised Patidar for the ease with which he toyed with Narine, a bowler who has troubled greats like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni in the past.
“Patidar looked beautiful. He played just 14 balls off Narine and smashed him for three sixes. To put that into context, Rohit, Kohli and Dhoni have played against Narine for 13 years and managed just four sixes together. So Patidar’s supremacy against Narine came to the fore. Overall, a tepid start for Kolkata,” Chopra further highlighted.
After the match, even Patidar was relieved to taste a win on his captaincy debut, and hoped that the trend could continue.
“There was pressure, but it was a good day for me,” said Patidar. “Hope for more such days.”
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