Tendulkar lavished praise on Patidar's leadership style and claimed that he was able to create an environment where each player took responsibility. The ex-Mumbai Indians (MI) captain commented that he found the right balance between leadership and contribution. "Very successful team develops an identity over the course of a campaign. RCB's identity seemed to be built around shared responsibility. Rajat Patidar led from the front right through, but just as importantly, he helped create an environment where others could do the same. That balance between leadership and contribution was an important factor in their run to yet another final," wrote Tendulkar in a post on Reddit. Patidar had a stunning season with the bat as he scored 501 runs in 14 innings at an incredible strike rate of 192.69. The 33-year-old won the Player of the Match (POTM) award in the first qualifier against the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Dharamshala for an incredible innings of 93 in just 33 balls. Patidar has strengthened his claim for a call-up to the Indian T20I team. The middle-order player is yet to make his debut for India in the shortest format of the game. So far, he has only played 1 Test and three ODIs in his career for the Men in Blue. Patidar is only the third captain after MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma to defend the IPL title and only the fourth alongside the above two and Gautam Gambhir to win the trophy multiple times. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Cricket, IPL 2026, IPL Points Table, and around the Sports. Aayush Kataria is a Senior Copy Editor at Times Network with four years of experience, having started his career in the organisation. He is a key memb... View More