Rajat Patidar to captain of Madhya Pradesh in all formats after rewarding stints in IPL and Duleep Trophy

‌Rajat Patidar was anointed as skipper of the Madhya Pradesh cricket team ahead of the start of their 2025-26 domestic season. He takes over the reins from Shubham Sharma, with MP facing Punjab in the opener of the Ranji Trophy in Indore from October 15.

Patidar first captained MP in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in December last year, but his side lost to the eventual champions Mumbai in the final. He was then chosen to lead Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League 2025, and he delivered in style as the franchise won its first title in the history of the tournament.

His fairytale run with captaincy continued as he led the Central Zone to the Duleep Trophy in the curtain raiser of the current domestic calendar. Central beat South Zone by six wickets in the final of the regional competition in Bengaluru last month.

Apart from captaincy, Patidar also had a good series with the bat, amassing 382 runs in three matches at an average of 76.40. He hit two hundreds, including a 101 in the summit clash, and two fifties in five innings.

He was also the captain of the Rest of India side that lost to Vidarbha by 93 runs in the Irani Cup on Sunday. Though he scored a half-century in the first innings, ROI were made to pay for their shoddy batting display in the game, which saw them get skittled out for less than 300 in both innings.