Aakash Chopra credited Rajat Patidar for RCB’s win and also outlined his supremacy, which was compared with IPL greats MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
In a battle between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Kolkata Knight Riders, who were led by new captains, on Saturday in the IPL 2025 opener at the iconic Eden Gardens, Rajat Patidar’s men emerged as winners, handing the defending champions a seven-wicket loss at home. Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra credited Patidar for the win and also outlined his supremacy, which was compared with IPL greats MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
RCB beat KKR by 7 wickets in IPL 2025 opener
Speaking on his YouTube channel on Sunday, Aakash admitted he was wrong about Patidar, who was handed the responsibility to lead RCB in IPL 2025 last month. While he had his apprehensions about the new skipper in the match against Kolkata, led by Rahane, a veteran and a former India captain, which he reckoned were true in the opening 10 overs of the game, a stunning comeback from RCB in the remainder of the match saw Aakash change his opinion. The former KKR batter was also in praise of Player of the Match Krunal Pandya for his economical show in the middle overs.
“I was wondering how would Rajat Patidar fare as a captain. I honestly felt he missed a trick. The first three overs were good. In the fourth over, he brought Salam, and then had Krunal in the fifth. I was thinking, ‘Don’t do that.’ Rahane capitalised and kept scoring runs, and they reached 100 in 10 overs. KKR should have scored 200, but that is where the comeback began. Thumbs down for Patidar’s captaincy in the first 10 overs, but then it looked like the match could head the other way. I mean, Krunal took three wickets. We kept saying, RCB’s weakest link was their spinners. But that became their strength. Krunal was good despite an expensive first over. Suyash was delivering very loose balls, but he dismissed Russell. KKR eventually did not even score 175. They will be disappointed,” he said.
‘Rahane missed the trick’
Aakash further said that Rahane had a disappointing outing as a captain in his first game for KKR. Although he scored a fiery half-century, which helped Kolkata bounce back after the early dismissal of Quinton de Kock, Rahane failed to use his cards right as a captain when defending the total of 173. Aakash was particularly critical of Rahane getting Sunil Narine late into the attack, which allowed the likes of Virat Kohli and Phil Salt settle in.
“What I felt about Patidar, became true for Rahane. Why weren’t you bringing Narine? What were you waiting for? They kept scoring runs and KKR delayed Narine’s introduction. Rahane missed the trick there. Thumbs down for KKR. Thumbs up for RCB,” he said.
The veteran India cricketer also praised Patidar’s “supremacy” against Narine. He scored nine runs in five balls against the spinner, which included a six. Overall, Patidar scored three sixes against Narine in their face-off in the IPL. Aakash reminded fans that in 13 years of their IPL rivalry against Narine, Rohit, Kohli and Dhoni together scored just four sixes against the spinner.
“Patidar looked beautiful. He played just 14 balls off Narine and smashed him for three sixes. To put that into context, Rohit, Kohli and Dhoni have played against Narine for 13 years and managed just four sixes together. So Patidar’s supremacy against Narine came to the fore. Overall, a tepid start for Kolkata,” he said.
