Influential Players In The Team Will Be Right Behind New Skipper Rajat Patidar: Andy Flower

Rajat Patidar might have been a surprise choice to lead star-studded Royal Challengers Bengaluru, but head coach Andy Flower on Friday said the whole team is "right behind" the skipper and the presence of experienced players such as Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be a boon for him. Royal Challengers will begin their IPL 2025 campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders here on Saturday, and it will be Patidar's first outing as a captain in the league. "A lot of these guys have captained state sides, IPL teams and international teams. So, we're very pleased with that, regardless of who was actually captaining our team this year," said Flower in the pre-match media interaction.

"I think having influential people in your squad, guys that have performed at the top level gives him a level of confidence. You get that confidence from the evidence of you succeeding at the top level in the past. There are a lot of our guys that have done that in, obviously, performance terms, but also leadership terms," he added.

Flower said Patidar is really excited about leading the side that has some top of the line stars like Kohli, Bhuvneshwar, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt and Krunal Pandya.

"We were conscious of that in our recruitment and they will be able to give a lot of support to Rajat. I think he is really excited about his challenge. And it's a brilliant challenge for him. We're right behind him," he said.

Flower further said the RCB bowling department has its own set of leaders.

"We've got Hazelwood, Bhuvi, Yash (Dayal) and Krunal. And even Yash has got some good experience now. And he's got a pretty calm, good head on his shoulders.

"So, that's four guys that will almost be captaining themselves in terms of tactics and decision