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Will Virat Kohli Play As Captain In IPL 2025? RCB's Director Of Cricket Reveals

Rajgeeta Yadav

Virat Kohli has been retained [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/X.com]Virat Kohli has been retained [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/X.com]

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are still deciding who will be the captain for the next Indian Premier League (IPL) season. On October 31, Mo Bobat, RCB's Director of Cricket, confirmed that no decision has been made regarding the captaincy. 

RCB has decided to keep three key players ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction: Virat Kohli for INR 21 crore, Rajat Patidar for INR 11 crore, and Yash Dayal for INR 5 crore. However, the team has chosen not to retain several important players, including captain Faf du Plessis, all-rounders Glenn Maxwell and Will Jacks, and fast bowler Mohammed Siraj. 

There have been media reports suggesting that Virat Kohli might return as RCB's captain after stepping down in 2021. Kohli had a challenging time as captain but led the team to the finals in 2016. Bobat highlighted Kohli's value to the team, saying his experience and energy will help guide newer players. 

In a video statement, Bobat mentioned that they have not finalised Kohli as captain. 

"I am sorry to disappoint everybody listening. We have not made any decision related to captaincy or on that as yet. We are open to options. The only obvious decision we made was not to retain Faf. He did a great job last year and the year before that. So from our perspective, we will keep a very open mind when we head to the auction," said Bobat in a video posted by RCB.

He also stressed that not retaining Mohammed Siraj was the toughest choice. Siraj has been a strong performer for RCB since 2018, taking 83 wickets in 87 matches. 

"Regarding Mohammed Siraj, not retaining him was our toughest decision. We value his contributions, having been a strong performer for RCB and India over the years. However, we wanted to enter the auction with as many options open as possible, especially to build a balanced bowling attack capable of competing effectively in the IPL and other formats," Bobat said.

RCB's Remaining Purse After Retention

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) has allocated INR 37 crore on player retentions as they gear up for the upcoming IPL season. With a total budget of INR 120 crore, they now have INR 83 crore remaining ahead of the IPL Mega Auction, expected later this month in Saudi Arabia.