Why is Rajat Patidar not captaining RCB in their IPL 2025 vs SRH?

Jitesh Sharma came out as the captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL 2025 game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). The game was moved away from Chinnaswamy Stadium to the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow due to inclement weather. It was Jitesh Sharma who won the toss and chose to bowl first. Regular skipper Rajat Patidar, as per Jitesh Sharma, will be the impact player. 

Devdutt Padikkal, who was ruled out of the tournament due to injury, was replaced by Mayank Agarwal in the playing XI. Patidar had injured himself in the game against Chennai Super Kings at home. Sunrisers Hyderabad, meanwhile, welcomed back Travis Head and Jaydev Unadkat into the XI. Abhinav Manhor was the third change for the men in orange. 

Gujarat Titans’ loss on Thursday has given the chance for RCB to move to the top of the table. Bengaluru currently are second in the table with 17 points and have just one game to go after this. Hyderabad will look to spoil RCB’s plans as they have nothing to lose after being knocked out of the tournament earlier. In their last game, SRH had beaten LSG in a high-scoring encounter that saw over 400 runs being scored. 

Travis Head challenge for RCB in key encounter 

Australian batter Travis Head is back for SRH after missing the previous game due to COVID. The 32-year-old batter scored a 39-ball tonne against RCB in the previous season. Head, who hasn’t done well this season, will look to use the next two games as a chance to get in prime form with the bat for the WTC Finals. 

Abhishek Sharma will be another batter to watch out for, as the 24-year-old has been SRH’s best batter this season. In the last game, Sharma scored 59 off just 20 balls and reached his fifty in just 18 balls. Focus will also be on the likes of Heinrich Klaasen and Kamindu Mendis, who have done reasonably well in the last few encounters. 

Mayank Agarwal has been included in the playing XI and the 34-year-old will be playing against his former side. Agarwal wasn’t picked during the IPL 2025 auctions, much to the surprise of many fans. Agarwal’s last IPL game was in 2024 when SRH played against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede stadium. The right-handed batter scored just five runs before losing his wicket to Anshul Kamboj.