IPL 2025: Will Virat Kohli lead Royal Challengers Bengaluru?
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat, has backed Virat Kohli's captaincy for the upcoming 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL). He hopes Kohli continues his aggressive batting from the last season. "Firstly, Virat's got a wealth of experience and incredibly high skill. I trust him to figure things out in the middle and to know what to do," Bobat said.
Kohli's leadership praised by RCB director
Bobat also praised Kohli's leadership skills and his decision to adopt an aggressive approach in the middle of last season. He said, "But even he, midway through, said, 'Right, I'm going to lead the way here, we can all be more aggressive.' It was brilliant to see him talk that through with the rest of the batting group and back his words up with action."
RCB's strategy for IPL 2025 revealed
Bobat also revealed RCB's strategy for the next season, stressing on making every delivery count. He said, "We want to make the most of every delivery. Players can be trusted to assess the situation, the conditions out there, and Virat will be no different to anybody else." This means aggressive play and quick scoring will be the name of the game in IPL 2025.
RCB's retention and new additions for IPL 2025
Ahead of the 2025 IPL mega auction, RCB retained the likes of Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, and Yash Dayal. The franchise released several key players including Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell. At the auction, the Royal Challengers added quite a few big names to their roster, including Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Liam Livingstone.
Kohli's performance in IPL 2024
In the last IPL season, RCB made it to the playoffs but lost to Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator. However, their run was nothing short of a miracle. However, despite the disappointment, Kohli was RCB's star performer throughout the season. He ended up bagging the Orange Cap after scoring 741 runs from 15 matches, well ahead of second-placed Ruturaj Gaikwad who scored 583 runs.
Kohli has led in over 140 IPL games
Kohli remains the only active player to have played for a single franchise since the inaugural IPL season (2008). Under his captaincy, RCB played 143 matches, winning 66 and losing 70 (Tied: 3, NR: 4). He has won the Orange Cap twice, in 2016 and 2024. Kohli would be keen to add an IPL trophy to his cabinet.
