Royal Challengers Bengaluru fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has showered praise on Rajat Patidar’s captaincy after the franchise won the IPL title in the 2026 season. RCB defeated Gujarat Titans in the summit clash to defend their title after winning the 2025 title for the first time.

Kumar said Patidar hasn’t changed from the first day of his captaincy tenure to the final of the 2026 edition. The UP seamer revealed that the RCB captain always sticks to the coach and team management’s plans, thus never tries to do anything out of the box.

Kumar recalled a match when Patidar bowled Jacob Duffy’s four overs on the trot as was discussed in the team’s meeting, despite being asked to save New Zealander’s one over by a few players.

“From the time Rajat was declared captain till we won the second trophy, he was literally the same. He did not change even a bit. He would always listen if you went to him with any advice. From the first match till the end, he was the same. His strength was that he never went against the planning of the coaches or senior players despite being the captain. I remember Jacob Duffy’s first match. He bowled four overs at once. A few players told him to save an over of his for later. But he was confident. That’s the kind of decisions he made,” Bhuvneshwar said in a podcast with Jatin Sapru.

Kumar was picked by RCB for INR 10.75 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction and he recalled his first meeting with Mo Bobat and head coach Andy Flower.

“My first conversation was with Mo and Andy, after the auction. I met them in Bangalore during SMAT and they had their camp there as well. It was a very casual meeting. They wanted to know how my preparation was and what my thought process was.”

Kumar scalped 28 wickets in 16 matches of IPL 2026 to play a key role in RCB’s success.