Rajat Patidar Gets More Points Than Virat Kohli; Rating RCB's Batting Lineup For IPL 2025

Rating RCB batting [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/X.com]

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 is just around the corner as the 18th season of Cricket's biggest carnival will begin on March 22. Ten teams will fight it out for the title. Apart from the usual favourites, another dark horse this season will be Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

The team has one of the strongest batting lineup in the league and in this article, we will rate their batters, and will take into account their stats and IPL record.

Top order batters

Virat Kohli - 8/10

The star of the RCB team and their most experienced player, Virat Kohli will once again hold the key for RCB if they are to go ahead in the tournament. He can eat pacers for breakfast, but Kohli's spin game is the reason why he gets an 8 out of 10.

(Kohli strike-rate Vs spin in last 4 seasons)

His strike-rate improved massively against spin in 2024, but as the stats suggests, he generally struggles against spin and that is why he gets an 8.

Phil Salt - 8/10

The hero of KKR in the title triumph last season, Phil Salt is an excellent player and will compliment Kohli in the best way possible, but just like the Indian star, he, too, struggles against spin.

Don't be surprised if opposition teams bring out spinners against both Kohli and Salt and if they can improve the spin game, the rating will shoot up.

Rajat Patidar - 8.5/10

The only reason Rajat Patidar gets more than Virat Kohli is his ability to tear apart spin bowling with ease.

(Patidar IPL stats Vs spin)

As the numbers suggests, Patidar has an excellent track record against spin and has a strike-rate of 177.9. His only problem is consistency and that stops Patidar from reaching a rating of 9.

Middle-order batters

Liam Livingstone - 6/10

The newest buy of RCB, Liam Livingstone has shown in brilliance in patches, but doesn't have the consistency as compared to a Kohli or Salt. He is an explosive batter but doesn't have the reliability and this is the reason he gets a 6 as one never knows which Livingstone will turn up.

Devdutt Padikkal - 4/10

Over the last few IPL seasons, Devdutt Padikkal has had underwhelming IPL seasons and there are big question marks over his strike-rate.

(Padikkal stats in IPL)

A strike-rate of 123.14 is not good enough in the league, and last season, he had a shambolic showing, with a strike-rate of just 71.70.

Tim David - 6/10

Another player who has immense talent, but lacks consistency at the top level. He can be a brilliant finisher for RCB, but teams will try and trap him with spinners as the Aussie batter has a weakness against them.

On tricky conditions, he might struggle to finish the games for his team and hence, he gets a 6 out of 10.

Jacob Bethell - 7/10

The only player in the team who hasn't played a single IPL game, a and thus, ranking him on the basis of IPL was not the criteria. On the recent tour of India, Bethell was decent with the bat and also played the spin bowlers really well.

In 63 T20 matches, Bethell has 1127 runs, and has a strike-rate of 136. He could be the X-factor for RCB and judging by his recent form, he gets a solid 7 out of 10.

Krunal Pandya - 6/10

A talented all-rounder who hasn't justified his talent with the bat, Krunal Pandya will have the responsibility of a finisher and he is expected to play the same role which he did for MI.

(Krunal batting stats in IPL)

Krunal has been decent with the bat in the IPL, and he has decent numbers with the bat as well. In recent years he hasn't finished off the games for his franchise and hence, his rating goes down a bit. The batter has a strike-rate of 132 in IPL and because it is on the lower-side, the all-rounder doesn't get more than 6.

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