Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) has been a quite unfortunate club. Nevertheless, their high-profile players made them wait for the IPL title to the year 2025, which drew 18 years in total.
Once, RCB even had some great captains among them. But their tactical ignorance prevented them from winning until 2025 when the red and blue army got their first IPL title.
Although Virat Kohli took the lead for quite a long time, other players also captained the team with great enthusiasm.
We will now mention the skippers who guided Royal Challengers Bengaluru during the IPL.
List of IPL captains for RCB in IPL history
1. Rahul Dravid
The local hero Rahul Dravid was the icon player for RCB in 2008. He undertook the captaincy responsibility for the very first season as well.
Dravid was already world-class, but the RCB was displeased with his performance and showed their dissatisfaction with their expectations. They took the last spot with four wins in fourteen matches.
2. Kevin Pietersen
Dravid’s departure has paved the way for the new hero, Kevin Pietersen, to take over the captaincy of the side. However, his full participation throughout the entire 2009 season was not possible.
Pietersen had the team win only two of the six games he led the team before quitting to go home with the total of two victories.
3. Anil Kumble
Anil Kumble came in as a substitute for Pietersen for the remainder of the year 2009. And he inverted RCB’s campaign entirely.
Kumble led the team to its first-ever final. Although RCB just missed it, the leg spinner was credited for their journey to the final.
The team standing ovation led to the RCB guaranteeing Kumble another season. This time he took them to the playoffs again. RCB could not win the semi-final, but they ended up with one victory in the third-place playoff game.
Kumble retired from the league after this season with 15 wins in 26 battles.
4. Daniel Vettori
The year 2011 saw Daniel Vettori take over from Kumble. Under Vettori’s captaincy, RCB reached their second final, but they were unable to win the title.
Vettori was again in the picture in 2012, but he announced his retirement from the team halfway through the season. RCB had an unstable season during his tenure, while Vettori’s own performance with the ball was also below par. So he decided to exclude himself from the squad.
Overall, the New Zealand player guided the team for 22 matches out of which 12 were won by RCB.
5. Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli was given the full-time captaincy in 2013; he however was the one who covered Vettori’s place during 2011 and 2012. His temporary captaincy for one year clearly demonstrated that he was the one for the bigger responsibility.
That was when the full-time captaincy fell on Kohli’s shoulders in 2013. RCB missed the playoffs that season by just 2 points, which was followed by a terrible season in 2014.
But then Kohli’s team came back strongly in 2015. They marched till Qualifier 2 before losing to CSK.
Bengaluru went to even greater heights the following season. Kohli led RCB to the final with his overwhelming performance, but SRH shattered their dream in the summit clash.
Then came a rough patch, as RCB was unable to make it to the playoffs in the next three editions. The situation for the men in red and gold was such that nothing seemed to work for them.
However, after three bad seasons, Bengaluru made it to the playoffs in 2020 and 2021. But Kohli announced his decision to step down as RCB’s captain after the 2021 season.
Though he couldn’t end RCB’s wait for a trophy, he was the one who set the standard for the team. The aggressive skipper was at the helm of 143 matches and took 68 victories which ranks him among the successful captains in the league.
6. Shane Watson
Shane Watson took Kohli’s place for three matches in 2017. He was the captain of the team and that team only season in which they had a very bad overall performance.
7. Faf du Plessis
RCB appointed Faf du Plessis as the new captain for the year 2022, right after Kohli’s resignation. The South African picked up the Kohli’s legacy and carried it further.
He led RCB to the playoffs for the third consecutive time, yet they could not proceed beyond Qualifier 2. The team did not make it to the knockouts in 2023.
But under du Plessis’s captaincy, Bengaluru experienced a stunning transformation in 2024. After a very bad start to the season, RCB was looking to lose the playoffs.
But then the team surprisingly won six games in a row and entered the knockouts. Although they could not win the Eliminator, it was a testimony to their will that they wanted to go far.
RCB did not, however, keep du Plessis despite such a performance in 2025. He was the captain of the team for 42 matches and had an even 50-50 record.
8. Rajat Patidar
The leadership baton was passed from du Plessis to Rajat Patidar in 2025. Once he was on the team as an injury replacement and now leading the team is a dream come true.
Patidar’s steady and patient guidance has worked for Bengaluru, where he, along with coach Andy Flower, helped RCB to win their first IPL title in 2025 after 18 years.
