The speculations have been going on for a long time, even before the start of the mega auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, that Virat Kohli could return as the captain of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), after the 2016-runners-up decided to leave out their former captain, Faf Du Plessis, before the new three-year cycle.
Virat Kohli has been the only player to be part of a single franchise from the start of the tournament. The veteran has earned so much success with the bat, even when he was the leader of the side till 2021. The right-arm batter has notched up 8428 runs in 258 innings of the tournament to be the highest run-scorer.
The two-time orange cap winner carries an average of 38.66 and a strike rate of more than 130 in the league, with the help of 57 half-centuries and eight centuries at the best score unbeaten 113 runs. The former Indian captain led the ‘Play Bold’ army in 13 seasons, where he collected 66 victories in 143 games at a winning rate of 48.56%.
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One of the reasons for the experienced batter to hand over the captaincy of Faf during the 2022 season was to breathe some free air and put his entire focus on the batting, which allowed them to get the best result in the batting department.
Ravichandran Ashwin picks Virat Kohli to captain RCB in IPL 2025
Since the Bengaluru side left Faf, the suspension was if they would go for any player to shoulder the responsibility of the side. But they didn’t. Rajat Patidar was retained by the franchise for a price of INR 11 crore, but that’s because of his quality with the bat in the middle order, and is unexpected to be the new leader of the side.
Earlier, the former captain of South Africa, Ab de Villiers, had also predicted that Virat Kohli would be going to return as the skipper of the side for the new season after he stepped down after the 2021 edition of the event.
Ravichandran Ashwin, the veteran off-spinner of the Indian side, has also walked in the same route and reckoned the same for their leadership core.
“In all likelihood, I think Virat Kohli is going to captain that side. That’s the feeling I get because they haven’t gone for a captain. Unless and until they are going to go with somebody else. I don’t see anyone other than Virat as captain.” The Tamil Nadu all-rounder claimed in a video posted on his official YouTube channel.
The 38-year-old also praised the auction strategy of the RCB side, calling their approach mature, as they managed to sign the players in the form of Tim David, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone, and Jitesh Sharma. They didn’t use their Right to Match (RTM) card for the likes of Mohammad Siraj, Glenn Maxwell, Will Jacks, and a few others.
“I think they had a terrific auction. They balanced it and waited it out. Many teams came into this auction with many crores in their purses. They came blazing right in the front, but RCB played the waiting game even though they had a lot of money. Who do I need? They are the ones I need. My overall team is important. My 12 or 14 is important.” Ashwin acknowledged.
Mo Bobat, the Director of Cricket for RCB, addressed that Virat Kohli has been a central figure of the team and was part of their auction strategy during the two-day event in Jeddah.
“Virat Kohli is a central figure; he is a senior member of the team. But we haven’t made any decision when it comes to captaincy. We will decide later on.” Bobat highlighted.