Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra talked about Rajat Patidar and Ajinkya Rahane making their captaincy debuts for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL 2025 opener on Saturday. In this match between two new captains, Patidar outperformed the more experienced Rahane, leading RCB to a 7-wicket win against the defending champions.
On his YouTube channel, Chopra praised Patidar for his victory but mentioned that his captaincy had some shaky moments early on. At first, I was curious how Patidar would handle the captaincy. Honestly, I thought he made a mistake with his bowling changes. The first three overs were solid, but then he brought in Salam too early and had Krunal bowl in the fifth. I was thinking, ‘Why did he do that?’ Rahane took advantage of it, and KKR scored quickly, reaching 100 runs in 10 overs. They should have aimed for 200, but that’s when RCB started to fight back. Patidar didn’t have the best start as captain, but things started to change. Krunal ended up taking three wickets, even though we thought RCB’s spinners were their weak point. Krunal did well after a rough first over, and even though Suyash bowled some bad deliveries, he got Russell out. In the end, KKR didn’t even make it to 175 runs. They’ll feel let down,” Chopra said.
Regarding Rahane, Chopra pointed out that he missed an opportunity by not bringing Sunil Narine into the attack during the Powerplay. “What I thought about Patidar held true for Rahane too. Why didn’t you bring Narine in? They let the runs keep coming and waited too long to bowl Narine. That was a mistake. Thumbs down for KKR, thumbs up for RCB,” he added.
Chopra also praised Patidar for how he handled Narine, a bowler known for troubling big players like Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni. “Patidar looked sharp. He faced Narine for just 14 balls and hit him for three sixes. For some perspective, Rohit, Kohli, and Dhoni have faced Narine for 13 years and hit only four sixes combined. Patidar really showed what he could do against Narine. Overall, it was a rough start for Kolkata,” Chopra noted.
After the game, Patidar expressed his relief at winning on his captaincy debut and hoped to keep that momentum going. “There was some pressure, but it turned out to be a good day for me. I hope there are more days like this,” he said.