Sunday at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. RCB beat CSK by 43 runs. Another comfortable win. Another day Rajat Patidar made captaining against Chennai look easy.
But this time, there was something more than just a result. With this win, Patidar broke a record that had stood in Sachin Tendulkar's name — and joined an exclusive group of only four captains in IPL history.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru hosted Chennai Super Kings at their home ground and won by 43 runs. It was a controlled performance — RCB batted well, set a target CSK couldn't chase, and their bowlers kept it tight throughout.
For CSK, it was their third consecutive loss in IPL 2026. Three games, zero wins. A deeply frustrating start to the season for the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side.
For RCB, it was business as usual against this particular opponent.
Under Rajat Patidar's captaincy, RCB have now beaten CSK three times in a row:
That makes it three straight wins against Chennai in Patidar's captaincy era. And combined with Faf du Plessis's win over CSK in IPL 2024, RCB have now beaten Chennai four consecutive times across all formats — a streak that stretches back two seasons.
Patidar's record against CSK as captain: played 3, won 3. Perfectly unbeaten.
Here's where it gets historically interesting.
When Sachin Tendulkar captained Mumbai Indians in 2008-09, his side beat CSK twice in a row. That was his best run against Chennai as a captain. Until Sunday, no one had taken that specific benchmark and gone further — but Patidar just did.
Patidar is now only the fourth captain in IPL history to win three or more consecutive games against CSK from the very start of their captaincy tenure. The other three: Shane Warne, Anil Kumble, and George Bailey.
Captain
Team
Wins vs CSK
Season
Shane Warne
Rajasthan Royals
3
2008
Anil Kumble
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
2008-09
George Bailey
Kings XI Punjab
2014
Rajat Patidar
2026
Sachin Tendulkar
Mumbai Indians
2
Hardik Pandya
Gujarat Titans
2022
Mayank Agarwal
Punjab Kings
Riyan Parag
2025-26
Shane Warne started it all back in 2008, winning three straight against CSK while captaining the Rajasthan Royals. Anil Kumble matched that feat a year later with RCB. George Bailey did it in 2014 with Kings XI Punjab. And now Patidar joins that group — also with RCB, fittingly.
Sachin's two-win run, which had sat unchallenged for years, has now been surpassed.
The win puts RCB at number one in the IPL 2026 points table. Three games into the season, they're unbeaten, playing confident cricket at home, and their captain is in the kind of form — both with bat and leadership decisions — that makes opponents uncomfortable.
Whether RCB can sustain this through a full 14-game league stage is a separate question. They've started brilliantly before and stumbled mid-tournament. But right now, the table doesn't lie.
RCB have beaten CSK four consecutive times across IPL 2024 and 2026 — Faf du Plessis captained the first of those wins, and Rajat Patidar has won all three since taking charge. Whether this counts as a continuous franchise streak or is split by captaincy era depends on how you measure it, but four straight wins against CSK is genuinely rare territory for any team. CSK are one of the most consistent franchises in IPL history, which makes RCB's current streak even more notable.
As captain of Mumbai Indians in 2008-09, Sachin Tendulkar won two consecutive matches against CSK. That was the highest any captain had managed against Chennai at the start of their captaincy tenure — until Patidar won his third straight against CSK on Sunday. Patidar is now only the fourth captain ever to beat CSK three or more times consecutively from the start of their captaincy stint, joining Shane Warne (2008), Anil Kumble (2008-09), and George Bailey (2014).
Three consecutive losses to open a season is unusual for CSK, a franchise that normally finds ways to stay competitive even through patches of bad form. Their batting hasn't clicked consistently, and they've been on the wrong end of some strong opposition performances. The Iran-Israel geopolitical situation has also been noted as contributing to a cautious consumer mood — though that affects attendance more than on-field performance. What's clear is that CSK need to turn things around quickly; in a 14-game league stage, starting 0-3 puts them under immediate pressure with very little room left for more slip-ups.
Among RCB captains specifically, Patidar's 3-from-3 against CSK is already better than what most predecessors managed. Anil Kumble also won three straight against CSK while captaining RCB in 2008-09, so Patidar is matching rather than exceeding the franchise's own internal benchmark — but he's only three games in. If he keeps winning against Chennai, he'll break that record too. For now, Patidar and Kumble share the RCB captaincy record against CSK at three wins each.
RCB are sitting at number one on the IPL 2026 points table following Sunday's win. Three matches, three wins, six points. They're the only unbeaten side with a perfect record at this stage of the tournament. Their home form at Chinnaswamy has been strong, and the batting and bowling units have both contributed across the three games. The real test comes when they travel away from Bengaluru — but that's a problem for later
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