Royal Challengers Bengaluru have appointed Rajat Patidar as captain for IPL 2025, which is certainly big news. There is no question that RCB have always been a fan favourite since they have had many big superstars play for the franchise in the past, such as Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, and Anil Kumble. You name them, and they have played for the franchise. Even now, players like Virat Kohli are still with the team. However, they have failed to achieve the IPL trophy, and there are many reasons for their poor performances. Sometimes it is due to batting failures, while other times it is due to bowling issues.
In the past, many factors have come under scrutiny, and generally, it is the leader who faces the most criticism for the team’s poor performances. With RCB, there is no exception, which means their captains have often failed to seize crucial moments when it mattered the most.
Although it is difficult to say who has been the worst captain for RCB in the IPL, as all are legends and did pretty well as players, if we consider the crucial winning percentages and the number of games, we can get some insights. Let’s take a look at the RCB captains over the years and their performances.
List of RCB captains
| Player | From | To | Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | Win% | Best Result |
| Rahul Dravid | 2008 | 2008 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 | 7/8 (2008) |
| Kevin Pietersen | 2009 | 2009 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 | Captain for first half |
| Anil Kumble | 2009 | 2010 | 35 | 19 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 54.28 | Runners-up (2009) |
| Daniel Vettori | 2011 | 2012 | 28 | 15 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 53.57 | Runners-up (2011) |
| Virat Kohli | 2011 | 2023 | 143 | 66 | 70 | 3 | 4 | 46.15 | Runners-up (2016) |
| Shane Watson | 2017 | 2017 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 | Stand-In |
| Faf du Plessis | 2022 | 2024 | 42 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 50 | Playoffs (2022, 2024) |
Who is the least successful RCB captain in IPL history
One thing we need to understand is that, apart from Virat Kohli, who captained the team for many years, no other RCB captain had the same luxury. If we look at the numbers, it is Rahul Dravid, a coach who led India to the T20 World Cup 2024 win and one of the greats of the game, who struggled as captain. He came in as the icon player in the inaugural season and captained RCB in 2008, which was the first IPL edition. However, he failed as a leader, winning just 4 games and losing 10, with a win percentage of 28.57.
As mentioned, Virat Kohli captained the team from 2013 to 2021, leading RCB in 143 matches, the second-longest stint as captain after the legendary MS Dhoni, who led CSK for a long time. Although Kohli had some good seasons, he also had some poor ones. Many believe he and his team came pretty close to winning the title, with the best example being in 2016 when he was at his peak as a player and led the team to the finals. However, they failed to capitalise on crucial moments and lost the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Certainly, everyone has their own way of judging players, but according to the stats, especially the winning percentage, Rahul Dravid did not have a good outing as a leader. Apart from him, everyone who captained RCB in more than 10 matches had a decent record, if not the best.
Who is the most successful RCB captain in IPL history
The legendary Anil Kumble has the best record as captain of RCB and is, in fact, leading the charts. Kumble finished his stint as leader with a win percentage of 57.69.
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