Royal Challengers Bengaluru wicket-keeper bat Jitesh Sharma believes Virat Kohli didn’t want to lead the franchise in IPL 2025. Kohli led RCB till the 2021 season and subsequently, Faf du Plessis was given the captaincy baton.

After RCB decided not to retain the South African, it was reported that Kohli could return as the team’s captain. Kohli had led RCB in 143 matches, winning 66 matches and losing 70 games.

RCB also could not bag potential leaders like Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Shreyas Iyer in the mega auction. However, in the end, head coach Andy Flower and RCB’s Director of Cricket Mo Bobat decided to back Rajat Patidar as the team’s new skipper.

Jitesh Sharma said on the CricXtasy podcast, “I got to know about Rajat Patidar becoming the captain when everyone else got to know. But when you have been around the game for a while, you understand the flow of things. Virat bhai did not want to captain the side.”

“I don’t know why he did not want to captain. I am not in the management side of things; when I am, I will let you know. But he has not been captaining in the last 2-3 years, so it felt that he would not do it this year as well. So, I think Rajat was the best option.”

Meanwhile, Rajat Patidar led Madhya Pradesh to the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2024. Patidar has also performed consistently for RCB in the last couple of seasons. Jitesh said Rajat deserves captaincy as he has given his best for RCB.

“Rajat definitely deserves the captaincy. He has given his services to RCB for so many years. I have played a lot of cricket with Rajat. I would definitely help him with the captaincy,” Jitesh said.

RCB will begin their IPL 2025 campaign against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on March 22.