New Delhi: Virat Kohli is reportedly set to return as captain for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 which was the reason behind the franchise not seeking a potential captaincy candidate at the recently concluded IPL 2025 mega auction. RCB did bid for both KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant but didn’t go after them desperately at the auction.
Ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, speculations were rife that RCB might go all out for local lad Rahul, who could have potentially been a strong captaincy contender as well. However, that was not the case as RCB pulled out of the race for Rahul after the bidding war crossed the Rs 10 crore mark at the mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
RCB also went after Pant at the auction but pulled the plug after the bidding reached the Rs 10 crore mark. Rahul was eventually signed by Delhi Capitals for Rs 14 crore while Pant went on to become the most expensive player in IPL history after Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) shelled out a whopping Rs 27 crore to secure his services.
As per a report in the Times of India, RCB have already made up their mind on captaincy as Kohli is all set to return as captain in IPL 2025. Kohli had discussions with the RCB management regarding captaincy even before the mega action and made it clear that he wanted to return in a leadership role for the franchise.
Kohli led RCB for nine seasons in the IPL from 2013 to 2021 but failed to inspire the franchise to their maiden IPL title. RCB qualified for the playoffs only 4 times under Kohli’s captaincy and came close to winning the title in IPL 2016 when they lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final. As captain, Kohli won 66 and lost 70 matches for RCB in the IPL.
RCB build strong squad for IPL 2025
While they did let go of the likes of former skipper Faf Du Plessis, England all-rounder Will Jacks, Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj and Australian star Glenn Maxwell, RCB managed to build a strong squad at the IPL 2025 mega auction. Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood was their top buy for Rs 12.50 crore while they also spent heavily on Phil Salt and Jitesh Sharma.
RCB replaced Siraj with veteran Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was bought for a huge sum of Rs 10.75 crore. They also picked up the likes of Krunal Pandya, Tim David, Romario Shepherd and Liam Livingstone to strengthen their all-rounders department. RCB will head into IPL 2025 looking to end their title drought under Kohli.
Virat Kohli is reportedly set to return as captain for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. RCB didn’t go for a potential captaincy candidate at the IPL 2025 mega auction. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
