The final of the IPL-18 will be played between the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKs) in Ahmedabad on June 7, tomorrow. Both teams are waiting for their first title. PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer has delivered the franchise for the third time in 5 years. He made an unbeaten 87 against Mumbai in Qualifier-2 and gave Punjab a victory. Rajat Patidar, who was captained for the first time, won the RCB in the final by winning 8 matches at home.
Understand the strategy and analysis of the captains of both teams who reached the final in the story in 3 factors …
I When did you become a captain, what was your record as a captain? II. What a strategy to adopt, how was your personal performance? III. Rye of Experts on captaincy, records of overall captaincy
1. Royals Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
i. In the RCB final after 9 years
Rajat Patidar, who is captaining the IPL for the first time, brought Royal Challengers Bangalore to the final nine years later. Under his captaincy, for the first time a team won all his outdoor matches.
Patidar scored half a century against two big teams of the tournament, KKR and CSK. Under his captaincy, the team beat Chennai for the first time in 2 matches in the season. While in Qualifier-1, Punjab was all out for 101 runs. In this match, Rajat gave the RCB a victory by scoring victorious sixes. Fans are hoping that their 17 -year long wait for the RCB trophy will end.
Rajat Patidar's IPL Facts
- Debut in 2021: Patidar was signed by RCB before IPL 2021. However, in that season he played only 4 matches and scored only 71 runs and was then released.
- Return in 2022 In 2022, Patidar was replaced by Lovely Sisodia. He was the third top scorer this season. He led his team to victory by making an unbeaten 112 off 54 balls against Lucknow Supergiants (LSG) in Eliminator.
Rajat Patidar has scored a century in IPL. He achieved this in 2022 against Lucknow.
- Out due to an injury in 2023: Patidar could not play in the IPL in 2023 as he suffered an AD injury. Due to which he had to stay out of the season.
- Aggressive batting against spinners in 2024: Patidar batted in 2024 against the spinners. He played all the matches for the team this season and played an important role in taking the team to the playoffs. In 2024, he scored 395 runs in 13 innings, including 5 half centuries. His strike rate was 177.13.
- In 2025, Patidar was retained at Rs 11 crore: Patidar was made captain of the RCB in the 18th season of the IPL. The team retained it for Rs 11 crore. As a captain, Patidar won the team in 9 out of 12 matches this season.
II. Smart team selection made us a winner
Rajat Patidar performed excellently with the bat. He has scored 286 runs in 14 games so far. As a captain, Rajat also led the team with his performance. Rajat Patidar's strategy in the tournament …
- Aggressive Field Setup: Rajat Patidar led the team with aggressive and balanced captaincy. During the powerplay he often set up aggressive fielding setups to make pressure on the opposing team. When the wicket falls, an additional field is placed inside the circle to increase the pressure.
- Smart Team Selection, Impact Players Proper Use: Patidar chose the team, pitch and match situation and used the impact players properly. What was special was that the team did not make many changes to Playing-11, so that the players could clearly know their role.
- Strategic Use of Bowlers: This time the bowlers played the biggest role in reaching Bengaluru to the final. Patidar used bowlers like Josh Hazelwood, Suyash Sharma, Kranal Pandya. Hazelwood is the most wicket -taker in the team. While Suyash and Karnal are staying in the overs. Bhubaneswar Kumar and Yash Dayal are doing well with the new ball.
- Team Spirit: Captain Patidar along with senior player Virat Kohli gave the players the freedom to play freely. Due to which the atmosphere in the dressing room remained positive.
III. Rajat became the biggest lesson of my life- Dinesh Karthik
This is the first time Rajat is leading a team in the IPL. He had earlier led Madhya Pradesh in India's local T20 tournament, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and delivered the team to the final in the first season. However, he lost to Mumbai led by Shreyas Iyer. Now again under the leadership of Shreyas, Punjab is standing between him and the title. Rajat captained 28 T20 matches and won the team in 21 of them. That is, the rate of success was 75%.
Former RCB coach Sanjay Bangar says about silver
Rajat has fulfilled his responsibility very well. His captaincy was absolutely accurate. Rajat has also performed well in batting and took the team in the right direction.
When Sunil Gavaskar said
Rajate has done a good job as a captain, his team has not been able to win the title for 17 years and now his players understand what to do to win. Along with the balanced captain, others associated with the team are also contributing their full.
RCB's mentor Dinesh Karthik said about silver
Rajat has become the biggest lesson in my life. Usually when people get a little name or authority, their behavior changes. The way to talk also varies, but it does not change at all. It is the same as before after becoming RCB captain.
2. Punjab Kings (PBKS)
I Third IPL final in five years
Captain Shreyas Iyer delivered the team to the IPL final for the third time in 5 years. In 2020, Delhi played the final under his leadership but lost. Then under his captaincy in 2024, he took Kolkata to the final and made it a champion. Now while captaining Punjab, he delivered the team to the playoffs and finals after 11 years. Punjab last played the final in 2014, but lost to Kolkata.
Under Shreyas's captaincy, Punjab also defended the lowest score in the history of the tournament. The team scored only 111 runs before the first but Kolkata all out for 95 runs. Shreyas played many useful innings for the team with his performance outside at home. He is also the top scorer of the team this year, scoring 603 runs.
Shreyas Iyer's IPL Facts
- Emerging Player of the Year in Debut Season: Iyer scored 436 runs for Delhi in 2015 and won the Emerging Player of the Year award. In 2018, he took over as a DC captain in the middle of the season, instead of Gautam Gambhir.
- DC delivered to the final: Iyer led Delhi from 2018 to 2020. During this period he won 21 matches. In 2019, Iyer took DC to the playoffs after 6 years. Under his captaincy, DC reached the IPL final for the first time in 2020, where he lost to the Mumbai Indians.
In 2020, Shreyas delivered Delhi to the final for the first time under his captaincy.
- Injured in 2021, then joined Kolkata: In 2021, Iyer did not play in the first half due to a shoulder injury. When Rishabh Pant returned in the second half, DC continued to name him as captain. At the end of the season, Iyer left DC and began a new trip with KKR in 2022. Kolkata bought him at a mega auction for Rs 12.25 crore.
- Out due to an injury in 2023: Shreyas Iyer could not be part of the tournament in the IPL 2023 due to a back injury, but he returned to Kolkata captaincy in 2024 and 10 years later to make the team a champion. KKR beat Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final.
- Release before auction of 2025: KKR released Shreyas before the 2025 mega auction. He was purchased by Punjab Kings (PBKS) for ₹ 26.75 crore, making him the second most expensive player in IPL history. Now he has taken Punjab to the IPL playoffs and finals after 11 years.
II. Change to the team according to the situation
Punjab has changed the captain 17 times in 18 seasons. Iyer proved that he was the best leader by delivering the team to the final in his first season. Shreyas has scored 603 runs in the top order this season. He has also hit 5 half -century during this period. Shreyas' strategy in IPL …
- A team united: After the auction, Shreyas united the Punjab scattered team. Together with coach Ricky Ponting, he explained to the team players about his roles, which led to the performance of many players. Shreyas and Potting were also in Delhi. He started the innings to two uncapped Indian players Priyanka Arya and Prabhasimran Singh. The two have scored 974 runs together.
- Leadership with Exhibition: Shreyas led the team with his performance. Shreyas scored his five -half centuries in the outside season. It also includes 87 runs in Qualifier-2 against Mumbai in Ahmedabad. He scored 8 sixes and made his team in the final.
- Changes in accordance with the situation: Shreyas changed the fielding and bowling according to the match situation. When he was to save 111 runs in the match against Kolkata, he made excellent use of Yuzvendra Chahal, causing the team to win the match by 16 runs.
- The team took care of the team even after the defeat: After losing against the RCB, Shreyas said to the team, “We lost a war, not the whole war.” That means we lost a match, but we can still win the title.
III. Iyer united team as captain- Ponting
Shreyas Iyer is the first captain in the history of IPL to deliver all three teams – Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings – to the playoffs. Iyer has captained in 86 IPL matches. In this, he won 48. He also made Mumbai a champion under his captaincy in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament last year.
Regarding his captaincy, the former Australian Better Matthew Head said
Shreyas is a great captain, he already understands the situation of the match. Iyer's captaincy can help Punjab Kings win the trophy.
When PBKS Coach Ricky Ponting said
Shreyas Iyer united the team as captain and delivered it to the top-2.
Former Indian Better Robin Uthappa said
Shreyas Iyer's captaincy has given the team the right direction, which has improved the performance of Punjab Kings.
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Image Credit: Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).