RCB’s identity, according to Bobat, is also rooted in a specific approach: fearless intent.
“And we’ve tried really hard over the last couple of years to let that be the identity of our team,” he said. “We want to score runs aggressively and we want to take wickets, particularly early in the innings.”
The interesting part is how closely that philosophy reflects on Patidar himself.
If Patidar represents RCB’s future and present, their experienced core has become the support structure around it.
Much has been said about RCB relying on players on the other side of 35 such as Virat Kohli, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood. But Bobat believes their value goes beyond age or experience columns.
“Experience does count for a lot in pressure games. I think everybody understands what Virat brings to a team, his intensity and his fight. He never lacks hunger and motivation,” he said.
“Someone like Krunal is a player that has so much fight, so much aggression. He always wants to be in the game. He wants to be in the difficult moments.”
“Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood are calmer characters. They’re not overly aggressive, but they want to be in the difficult moments of the game. That’s when they want to stand up.”
That desire to move towards pressure, rather than away from it, is perhaps the clearest reflection of this RCB side.
For years, RCB searched for an identity. This season, it increasingly looks like they have found one: attack without recklessness, calm without passivity, and a captain whose personality seems to have quietly seeped into the dressing room around him.
