Former South Africa and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Faf du Plessis has heaped praise on Rajat Patidar’s aggressive style of play from the start of his innings, which has been the catalyst for his side’s impressive start to the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
Patidar has arguably been RCB’s best batter this season. The skipper has scored 222 tuns at an average of 55.50 whilst striking at 213.46. The right-handed batter does not waste balls at the start of his innings, and instead starts scoring instantly, where his strike-rate is near 260 in the first 10 balls he faces. This attacking intent from Patidar has earned a big fan in du Plessis.
“The most amazing thing about Rajat is that he leads the charts in the first 10 balls, striking at around 260, which is a ridiculous number. He’s number one in the country at the moment doing so, and that takes some doing. We know he’s a good hitter, and how consistently he can strike the ball, but to be number one in those first 10 balls means that even if the opposition picks up a wicket and he comes to the crease, he starts scoring at 260 straight away,” du Plessis said live on JioStar.
Despite losing one game this season against the Rajasthan Royals, defending champions RCB look like the team to beat this season. Patidar’s side have all bases covered, including aggressive openers, hard-hitting middle-order batters and a destructive lower-order comprising Tim David and Romario Shepherd.
The return of Josh Hazlewood has significantly improved their bowling department, with the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya and Rasikh Salam Dar chipping in with crucial wickets.
Sanjay Bangar reckons the RCB era has bestowed upon the IPL
Former India batter Sanjay Bangar was yet another expert in awe of how RCB have been playing in the IPL this season. This comes after their victory over the Lucknow Super Giants at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday, April 15.
Bangar stated that with RCB’s performances this year, adding to their title-winning campaign in 2025, they show all signs of winning multiple championships in the coming seasons.
With the Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians seemingly in transition, the door is open for a high-flying team like RCB to stamp their authority on the IPL and join the prestigious list of teams with more than one trophy to their name.
“As a team, there are phases, like there was a phase for CSK and MI when they just seemed invincible. I believe that this is RCB’s time. The success that the team has had in terms of consistency, not necessarily just the championship, but having won that championship, the confidence is high. It rubs off on the management and the owners as well, and then you can go on a roll. I believe that it’s not only about winning one championship, but this could be a phase for RCB where, maybe, for three or four years in a row, they can do something really special and be in that top group of IPL teams where KKR, MI and CSK have won multiple championships. I foresee RCB sitting in that special bracket very soon,” Bangar said on JioStar.
RCB have picked up eight points from their opening five matches of the season and find themselves at the top of the standings. Their next game is against the Delhi Capitals on Saturday, April 18.
