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There has been a lot of talk about how Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have gone about their business in the IPL auction for the 2025 edition. One thing that seems clear is that they have not focused too much on one or two big players.
They went into the auction with a clear-cut plan and that was to get utility players along with experienced names. The think tank has banked on experience, power and skills for the upcoming season. While they retained Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Yash Dayal ahead of the auctions, they bought some big hitters in the form of Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone, Tim David and Jitesh Sharma. Krunal Pandya and Jacob Bethell are utility cricketers. The bowling attack has the experience of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood. Rasikh Salam Dar is a good buy as well. Nuwan Thushara and Lungi Ngidi are the other overseas pacers. Devdutt Padikkal and Manoj Bhandage are the local Karnataka names in the squad.
The IPL title has eluded them for 17 long years. Can they finally end the drought? Let’s look at what is the playing XI that is likely to take the field for RCB in the upcoming 2025 season of the IPL.
1. Virat Kohli (captain)
Kohli is the heartbeat of RCB. The 36-year-old is the leading run-getter in the history of the IPL and he has produced a couple of big seasons on the trot. He smashed 639 runs (strike-rate of 139.82) in IPL 2023 before racking up 741 runs (strike-rate of 154.69) in the 2024 edition. He won the Orange Cap in 2024 and his batting was one of the cornerstones to RCB’s turnaround in the second half of last season.
With RCB not going after a captaincy option in the auction, it is more than likely that Kohli will take over the reins once again. He led the side in 2023 when Faf du Plessis missed a couple of games due to injury. But his last full-time stint as RCB captain was back in 2021.
2. Phil Salt (wicket-keeper)
Salt has been in the IPL only for two years now but he made a big impact in Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) title-winning campaign in 2024. The England wicket-keeper batter amassed 435 runs at an average of 39.54 and a strike-rate of 182. His numbers in T20Is in 2024 are excellent as well, scoring 467 runs in 15 innings while striking at 164.43.
The 28-year-old is a proper intent machine at the top and he could complement Kohli really well. He plays spin and pace equally well and he has the ability to hit boundaries at will.
3. Rajat Patidar
Patidar was absolutely magnificent last season. The Madhya Pradesh batter is a murderer of spin. He can absolutely dismantle any kind of spinners and he showed that in the IPL 2024. He aggregated 395 runs while striking at 177.13 and struck five half-centuries.
The 31-year-old smashed 33 sixes in the last edition and out of those, 22 came against spin. He plays pace decently well too and his pairing with the openers could be the key, especially Kohli who has struggled a touch against spin in the last couple of years. Patidar has the ability to take the game away from the opposition in no time.
4. Liam Livingstone
Livingstone is an excellent addition to RCB’s middle-order. He didn’t have the best of seasons in IPL 2024 (111 runs in seven games) but he is someone who can hit the ball long and hard. With RCB set to play seven games at the Chinnaswamy, the track and the ground will suit Livingstone and his aggressive style of play.
Add to that, his ability to bowl either off-spin or leg-spin depending on the type of batter. The England all-rounder can be used effectively in the middle-overs. Plus, the dearth of spinners in the RCB line-up will mean that he could be used quite a bit with the ball.
5. Krunal Pandya
The senior Pandya is another good buy for RCB. The left-arm spinning all-rounder has not set the IPL on fire in the last few years. His batting has fallen away a touch as he’s not been able to go past the 200-run mark for six editions now. But he could possibly be the only left-hander in the top seven and could be used as a floating hitter.
However, his defensive bowling skills are vital. With Chinnaswamy being a small ground, the ability to contain runs is always going to be crucial. Hence, Krunal’s ability to tie down batters will come in handy. In fact, after nine games in Bengaluru, Krunal has an economy rate of just 7.25 at the Chinnaswamy. He has played nine seasons and the Baroda all-rounder has never had an economy of more than 8 in a single edition.
6. Jitesh Sharma
Jitesh Sharma has been highly impressive over the last few seasons in the IPL. The Vidarbha wicket-keeper batter broke into the Indian T20 team on the back of a couple of good IPL seasons.
While the 2024 edition wasn’t his best (187 runs at a strike-rate of 131.69), he was superb in the previous two tournaments. He got 309 runs while striking at 156.06 in 2023 and 234 runs while striking at 163.63 in 2022. Jitesh strikes close to 200 at the death.
7. Tim David
Tim David has been excellent over the last few years across T20 competitions, especially at the death. His ability to clear the boundary against pace is second to none. In fact, he played three seasons for MI and scored 658 runs at a strike-rate of 171.35. He hit 46 sixes in this three-year period.
In fact, nearly 70% of his IPL runs have come at the death. He has a strike-rate of 204.52 in the last five overs in the IPL. In 2024, he’s got 901 runs in all T20s with a strike-rate of 150.16.
8. Rasikh Salam Dar
Rasikh Salam has had an impressive start to his career. He was the most expensive uncapped player in the IPL auction 2025. He bowled very well for Delhi Capitals last season and took nine wickets in eight games. He was excellent in the ACC Men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup where he finished as the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament. He returned with nine scalps in four games and had an economy of 7.15. The Jammu & Kashmir seamer has the ability to bowl change-ups and can slip in yorkers consistently. Hence, he is a vital addition to the bowling attack and his skills at the death will be the key.
9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
He may not have had a great run in the 2024 season but Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a bonified IPL great. No other Indian pacer has more wickets than him in the history of the IPL. With 181 wickets, he is fourth on the all-time list of leading wicket-takers.
10 out of 11 wickets that Bhuvneshwar took in IPL 2024 came in the powerplay. His ability to move the ball and fox batters is second to none. He is going to be absolutely critical in the powerplay for RCB. His death bowling skills are on the wane but he can slip in an odd good over or two.
10. Josh Hazlewood
Hazlewood returns to RCB after making a significant impact in the 2022 season. The tall Australian quick played 12 matches for RCB in 2022 and picked up 20 wickets (second-most in the team). He bowled really well with the new ball and was equally effective at the death. He hit the hard lengths and made it tough for the batters.
The only concern would be that Hazlewood hasn’t played a lot of T20 cricket in the last couple of years. He has played only 11 T20s in 2024 (all for Australia) and just three in 2023 which was in the IPL. Hence, RCB have a couple of backups in case Hazlewood is rusty or there is an injury cloud over him.
11. Yash Dayal
Yash Dayal was superb for RCB in the 2024 IPL season. The left-arm pacer returned with 15 wickets in 14 games. He swung the new ball quite a bit and bowled well in the powerplay. However, he did well in the middle overs and at the death as well.
He was one of the three players to be retained and gives a good left-arm angle to this pace attack. Alongside Bhuvneshwar, Dayal is likely to take the new ball and may even bowl three overs upfront.
Impact Player: Suyash Sharma/Swapnil Singh
Swapnil Singh bowled well in the IPL 2024. The left-arm spinner took six wickets in seven games at an economy of 8.86 and was often used as an impact player. He used to bowl the first over and even picked up key wickets. The 33-year-old can even tonk a few towards the end.
If RCB don’t lose a lot of wickets and need Swapnil’s batting, they could even use the leg-spin of Suyash Sharma. He played only a couple of matches in the 2024 season but was impressive in 2023. He took 10 wickets in 11 games in the IPL 2023 and had an economy rate of 8.23. He is the only leg-spinner in the RCB squad this year.
FAQs
At what position did RCB finish in 2024?
4th
When did RCB last win the IPL?
RCB have never won the IPL. They have reached the finals three times – 2009, 2011, 2016.
