Virat Kohli’s One8 announced Rajat Patidar as its brand ambassador on August 15, 2026. The announcement came through a collaborative Instagram post between the brand’s official account and Patidar’s, on India’s Independence Day.
The post showed Patidar in a beige outfit, wearing the red Seam XVIII sneakers, One8’s cricket-inspired lifestyle shoe priced at Rs 9,230 as a tribute to Kohli’s Test run tally.
One8’s caption read:
“Some wear the responsibility. Some lead through it. Our skipper, @rrjjtt_01. Every journey leaves a mark. Every leader finds their SEAM. Rajat Patidar, Brand Ambassador, One8.”
One8, Instagram, August 15, 2026
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The post crossed 656K likes within 15 hours. The word “SEAM” is not accidental. It connects Patidar directly to the Seam XVIII, One8’s flagship sneaker collection built around the cricket ball’s stitched seam.
Patidar is not a name pulled from an agency shortlist. He is a player Kohli has watched, backed and publicly endorsed for four years inside the same RCB dressing room.
At the RCB Unbox event in Bengaluru in March 2025, Kohli introduced Patidar as the franchise’s new captain in front of thousands of fans at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“The guy who is going to come next is the guy who’s going to lead you for a long time. So, give him all the love you can.”
Virat Kohli, RCB Unbox event, March 17, 2025
The relationship traces back to IPL 2022, when Patidar arrived as a replacement player for the injured Luvnith Sisodia. He scored an unbeaten 112 off 54 balls in the Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants, becoming the first uncapped player in IPL history to score a playoff hundred. Kohli’s response after the match was clear: “I have not seen many better innings than the one he played today.”
That was the moment Patidar stopped being a fringe player at RCB. Two title wins later, in 2025 and 2026, he is the franchise’s captain. He scored 501 runs in IPL 2026, led RCB to back-to-back championships, and has established himself in India’s Test middle order with a Duleep Trophy century.
One8 itself changed before this signing. The brand spent 2017 to 2025 as a sub-brand under Puma, with Puma handling design, manufacturing and distribution. In December 2025, Agilitas Sports, founded by former Puma India managing director Abhishek Ganguly, acquired One8. Kohli sold the brand but invested Rs 40 crore of his own money back into Agilitas, taking a minority stake and the title of co-founder. He is not the face of One8. He is part-owner.
The Global Premiere on June 21, 2026, at Yashobhoomi in New Delhi made the shift visible. Within seven days, One8 built a community of over 1.6 million users on Instagram. The brand announced athlete partnerships with Smriti Mandhana, Devdutt Padikkal, Jitesh Sharma, Pratika Rawal, Pooja Singh and Anshuka Parwani. Jos Buttler was spotted wearing One8’s Cover Drive 18 cricket spikes during the ODI series against India. Kohli reportedly rejected 17 prototypes before approving the final version of those spikes.
Patidar’s individual brand ambassador announcement on August 15 came separately, two months after the initial roster reveal, with its own dedicated post and product placement.
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Insider Read
One8’s cricket line carries a legitimacy that agency-brokered deals cannot replicate. When the co-founder has personally watched you bat in nets for four years, seen how you handle a chase at 10 an over in a playoff, and then publicly told 40,000 fans that you deserve the captaincy, the partnership is built on evidence, not reach.
Kohli did not pick Patidar because he trends on social media. He picked him because he has stood at the non-striker’s end while Patidar played match-winning innings under pressure. That is the difference between a brand that signs cricketers and a brand built by one.
Also Read:
- Rajat Patidar’s Duleep Trophy Century Cements RCB Captain’s Test Credentials
- Foreign Players Are Wearing Kohli’s One8 Spikes
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar on His Friendship with Kohli at RCB
- Harshal Patel on Kohli’s Fitness Standards and Talent
- Samson on Kohli’s Lifestyle Advice He Could Not Follow
- Karan Sharma on the Virat Kohli Culture
- Harbhajan Compares Kohli to Messi Ahead of 2027 World Cup
- Clive Lloyd on Virat Kohli and West Indies Legends
