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Tomorrow i.e. June 3, the IPL-18 final will be played between Royals Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Ahmedabad. Both teams are waiting for the first title. PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer took the third franchise to the final within 5 years. He won Punjab by scoring an unbeaten 87 against Mumbai in Qualifier-2. At the same time, Rajat Patidar, who was captaining for the first time, won the RCB out of the house and took 8 matches to the final.
Strategy and Analysis of captains of both teams who reached the finals in the story Understand in 3 factors …
i. When did you become captain, what was the record in captaincy? ii. Did the strategy adopt, how was the personal performance? iii. Experts’ opinion on captaincy, record of overall captaincy
1. Royals Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
i. RCB in final after 9 years
Rajat Patidar, who was captaining for the first time in the IPL, took Royals Challengers Bangalore to the finals after 9 years. For the first time under his captaincy, a team won all their Away (out of the house).
Patidar laid a fifty against two big teams of the tournament KKR and CSK. The team defeated Chennai 2 matches for the first time under his captaincy. At the same time, in qualifier-1, Punjab was covered for 101 runs. In this match, Rajat won the RCB by winning the winning six. Fans hope to end the 17 -year -old wait of the RCB Trophy.
Silver Patidar’s IPL Facts
- Start from 2021: Patidar was signed by RCB before IPL 2021. However, that season he played only 4 matches and scored only 71 runs, then he was released.
- Return in 2022: In 2022, Patidar was included as a replacement player of Lavneet Sisodia. This season he was the third top scorer of the team. He also won the team by scoring an unbeaten 112 off 54 balls against Lucknow Supergiants (LSG) in Eliminator.
Silver Patidar has scored a century in IPL. He did this feat against Lucknow in 2022.
- Out due to injury in 2023: The Patidar could not play in IPL 2023, as he had a heel injury. Due to which he had to stay out of the entire season.
- Attacking batting against spinners in 2024: Patidar batted brilliantly against spinners in 2024. This season he played full matches for the team and played an important role in taking it to the playoffs. In 2024, he scored 395 runs in 13 innings, including 5 half -centuries. His strike rate was 177.13.
- Patidars retained 11 crores in 2025: Patidar was made the captain of RCB in the 18th season of IPL. He was retained by the team for 11 crores. This season, as captain, Patidar won the team in 9 out of 12 matches.
ii. Smart team selection made winner
Rajat Patidar showed a brilliant game with the bat. He has scored 286 runs in 14 matches so far. As captain, Rajat also led the team with his performance. Silver Patidar’s strategy in the tournament …
- Attacking Field Setup: Rajat Patidar attacked and captained balanced. He put up an attacking fielding setup several times in the powerplay to maintain pressure on the team in front. When the wicket fell, placed an extra fielder inside the circle, so that the pressure increases.
- Smart Team Selection, Correct Use of Impact Player: Patidar selected the team after seeing the team, pitch and match situation and used the impact player correctly. The special thing is that the team did not make much changes in the playing-11, so that the players would know their role clearly.
- Tactical use of bowlers: The biggest contributor to Bangalore’s reaching the finals this time was the bowlers. Patidar properly used bowlers like Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya. Hazelwood is the top wicket of the team. At the same time, Suyash and Krunal are stopping runs in the middle overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yash Dayal are doing excellent work with the new ball.
- Team Spirit: Captain Patidar, along with the team’s senior player Virat Kohli, gave the players freedom to play openly. Due to which the atmosphere of the dressing room was positive.
iii. Rajat has become the biggest learning of my life- Dinesh Karthik
Rajat is captaining a team in IPL for the first time. He earlier captained Madhya Pradesh in India’s domestic T20 tournament Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and brought the team to the finals in the first season. However, there he lost to Mumbai, captained by Shreyas Iyer. Now once again, Punjab, captained by Shreyas, is standing between him and the title. Rajat captained 28 T20s, won the team in 21. That is, 75% success rate.
Former RCB coach Sanjay Bangar says about silver
Rajat has done the responsibility well. His captaincy was absolutely accurate. Rajat has also performed well in batting and took the team in the right direction.
Sunil Gavaskar said there
As captain, Rajat did a good job, his team has not won the title for 17 years and now his players understand what to do to win. Along with a balanced captain, other people associated in the team are also making their full contribution.
RCB mentor Dinesh Karthik said about silver
Rajat has become the biggest learning of my life. Usually when people get a little name or power, their behavior changes. The method of interacting also changes, but they do not change at all. Even after becoming the captain of RCB, he is the same as before.
2. Punjab Kings (PBKS)
i. Third IPL final in 5 years
Captain Shreyas Iyer took the third IPL team to the final in 5 years. In 2020, Delhi played the final in his leadership, but lost. Then in 2024, he made Kolkata to the finals under his captaincy and also made the champion. Now, while captaining Punjab, he got the team in the playoffs and finals after 11 years. Punjab played the last final in 2014, but lost to Kolkata.
Under the captaincy of Shreyas, Punjab also defended the smallest score in tournament history. The team scored just 111 runs while batting first, but all out Kolkata for 95 runs. Shreyas also played several useful innings for the team with his performance outside the home ground. He is also the top scorer of the team this year by scoring 603 runs.
Shreyas Iyer’s IPL Facts
- Emerging Player of the Year in Debut season: Iyer scored 436 runs from Delhi in his debut season in 2015 and won the Emerging Player of the Year Award. In 2018, he took the captaincy of DC in place of Gautam Gambhir in the middle of the season.
- DC brought to the final: Iyer captained Delhi from 2018 to 2020. During this, he won 21 matches. In 2019, Iyer took DC to the playoffs after 6 years. DC reached the IPL final for the first time under his captaincy in 2020, where he lost to Mumbai Indians.
In 2020, Shreyas under his captaincy took Delhi to the finals for the first time.
- Injured in 2021, then joined Kolkata: Iyer did not play in the first half in 2021 due to a shoulder injury. When he returned to the second half, DC continued to make Rishabh Pant captain. At the end of the season, Iyer left DC and started a new journey with KKR in 2022. Kolkata bought him in mega auction for Rs 12.25 crore.
- Out due to injury in 2023: Shreyas Iyer could not become a part of the tournament due to a back injury in IPL 2023, but in 2024 he made a comeback and captained Kolkata and made the team champion after 10 years. In the final, KKR defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad.
- Released before 2025 auction: KKR released Shreyas before the 2025 mega auction. He was bought by Punjab Kings (PBKS) for ₹ 26.75 crore, making him the second most expensive player in IPL history. Now he also took Punjab to IPL playoffs and finals after 11 years.
ii. Changes in team according to situation
Punjab changed 17 captains in 18 seasons. Iyer proved the team to the finals in his first season and proved that he is the best leader. Shreyas has scored 603 runs while batting in the top order this season. He has also installed 5 fifty during this period. Shreyas’s strategy in IPL …
- United the team: After the auction, Shreyas united Punjab’s scattered team. He, along with coach Ricky Ponting, explained to the players of the team about their role, which revealed the performance of many players. Shreyas and Potting were also together in Delhi. He opened 2 uncapricated Indian players Priyansh Arya and Prabhasimran Singh. The two have scored 974 runs together.
- Leaded from performance: Shreyas leads the team with his performance. Shreyas applied all five of his fifty home grounds in the season. These include 87 runs in qualifier-2 against Mumbai in Ahmedabad. He took his team to the final by hitting 8 sixes.
- Changes according to situations: Shreyas made changes in fielding and bowling after seeing the circumstances of the match. When he had to save 111 runs in the match against Kolkata, he used Yuzvendra Chahal the best, which won the match by 16 runs.
- Handle the team even after defeat: After losing to RCB, Shreyas told the team, “We have lost a fight, not a whole war.” That is, we have lost a match, but we can still win the title.
iii. Iyer united the team as captain- Ponting
Shreyas Iyer is the first captain in IPL history to take all three of Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings to the playoffs. Iyer has captained 86 matches of IPL. In this, he won 48. He has also made Mumbai a champion under his captaincy in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament last year.
Former Australian batsman Matthew Hayden said on his captaincy
Shreyas is a great captain, he is already guessed by the match situation. Iyer’s captaincy can help Punjab Kings to get a trophy.
At the same time, PBKS coach Ricky Ponting said
Shreyas Iyer united the team as a captain and reached the top-2.
Former Indian batsman Robin Uthappa said
Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy has given the team the right direction, which improved the performance of Punjab Kings.
