RCB Captain: A potential comeback for Virat Kohli! chances for Rajat Patidar and Krunal Pandya

By Cross Talk India Team On Nov 30, 2024

RCB Captain: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), hunting for their first IPL glory, tried to make a balanced squad for the 2025 season. While some IPL teams like Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Punjab Kings (PBKS), and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have made some bold decisions to restructure their squad, RCB failed to make such a positive impact on their fans, especially after releasing. Will Jacks, who turned savior for RCB on many occasions in the IPL 2024 season. RCB went to the Mega Auction, which is placed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after retaining Virat Kohli (Rs 21 crore), Rajat Patidar (Rs 11 crore), and Yash Dayal (Rs 5 crore).

But the question remains: who will lead the side in IPL 2025? Rumors on social media platforms bet for Virat Kohli, the former RCB skipper, who led the team for 140 matches with 66 wins and 70 losses. Virat was appointed as the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore back in 2013 and then remained as their leader for 140 matches. Virat Kohli, now 36, has promised his RCB fans that he will always remain an RCB player. Virat, one of the best batsmen in modern cricket, was comparably less discussed about his contribution as a captain. The right-handed ‘run machine’ has several prestigious ICC awards as a skipper. As a RCB captain, from 20213 to 2021, Virat’s batting stats witnessed unwanted ups and downs, though his best IPL season was in the 2016 season with a batting average of 81.08 in 16 matches. If we believe the speculations, then Kohli has a high chance to return as a captain for the red and black brigade.

But there are two more players who have the potential to be a leader of the franchise team Bengaluru. One is Rajat Patidar, and another one is Krunal Pandya. We’ve already mentioned that RCB has retained Patidar for the upcoming IPL season; it shows that the management has trust in the top-order batter, who can bowl right-arm off break as well. Rajat, now 31, is doing some notable work as the captain of Madhya Pradesh in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. After four matches, Patidar-led MP remain unbeaten with four wins in a row. Rajat has delighted the cricket fans with 78 (36), 62 (37), and 68 (40) innings, respectively, against Meghalaya, Punjab, and Bengal.

Like Rajat Patidar, Krunal Pandya, the captain of Baroda, also got four victories in four matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. RCB cashed in Rs 5.75 crore for the 33-year-old all-rounder. Krunal’s economical bowling caught eyes in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. He has got 5-wicket in four matches, bowling a total of 14 overs by spending only 86 runs.

RCB full squad for IPL 2025

Batters: Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara.