Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter Venaktesh Iyer heaped praise on captain Rajat Patidar after the franchise secured a second straight IPL championship on Sunday in Ahmedabad. RCB’s campaign had been marked by authority, and it carried a sense of continuity after ending an 18-year wait for a maiden title last year. In the 2026 final, they took on a Gujarat Titans side led by Shubman Gill and managed to keep the contest under control, limiting the Titans to 155/8 from their 20 overs. When it was time to chase, Virat Kohli looked like the player RCB had been hoping would find his rhythm again, striking an unbeaten 75 and steering the chase to a comfortable finish—an outcome that sealed victory by five wickets with two overs remaining.
After lifting the trophy, Iyer spoke to NDTV’s Consulting Editor Boria Majumdar and credited Patidar’s leadership qualities. The admiration also carried extra weight because the two are not just IPL colleagues—both represent the Madhya Pradesh setup in domestic cricket. Iyer said the Madhya Pradesh team had long held faith in Patidar’s ability and believed the breakthrough was only a matter of time.
“Phenomenal. I think he’s done what nobody believed he could do. I didn’t believe he could do a few years back, pleasantly surprised by the way he carried himself on the field. It’s just a matter of when, rather than if or could he. It had to happen,” Iyer said. He added that this conviction was not limited to recent seasons, recalling the period when he was beginning his Ranji Trophy journey. “And this is not me talking about 2021-22 or something. This is something that not just me, the entire MP team thought in 2016-17 when I began my Ranji Trophy days,” he explained.
Iyer also reflected on how Patidar’s rise looked from the outside even when his domestic numbers were still building. “This fellow does not belong here. He belongs in the top tier. He’s meant for bigger things. When he virtually hadn’t even scored a lot in Ranji Trophy—this is, I’m talking about like 10 years back—at that time, we were all thinking, ‘What’s he doing here? He should be a regular in India.’ Quality, this, that. So it had to happen. Late, but good things eventually happen to good people,” he added.
RCB’s triumph placed Patidar among an elite group of captains, with the win making him only the third skipper to deliver consecutive IPL titles. The others to achieve back-to-back glory are MS Dhoni, who did it with Chennai Super Kings in 2010 and 2011, and Rohit Sharma, who led Mumbai Indians to championships in 2019 and 2020.
For Patidar, the difference between title seasons came down to tempo and mindset. “Last year was a lot of pressure, this year was more calm because the way we played throughout the tournament, we dominated this year. So we were pretty much confident that if we are playing like this we are definitely going to win the second title for RCB,” he said.
