"He will be the captain, I think, looking at the squad" - AB de Villiers backs Virat Kohli to lead RCB again in IPL 2025
Former South Africa and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter AB de Villiers feels that Virat Kohli will be back at the helm at the franchise, based on how the squad has shaped up after the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 Auction. The Indian ace batter had relinquished captaincy after the 2021 season, as Faf du Plessis led RCB in the previous three-year cycle.
Ahead of the mega auction, RCB parted ways with Du Plessis, and chose not to bring him back through the RTM option. After a major rebuild, the three-time IPL finalists have assembled a talented squad, but there is no clarity as to the potential captain for the season.
New signings Phil Salt and Liam Livingstone have marginal leadership experience having led the national team recently, and also in The Hundred and England's List-A tournaments. On the other hand, Rajat Patidar, one of the original retentions, is leading Madhya Pradesh in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign.
Senior bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar is another member with leadership experience. He has led the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) on sporadic occasions in the past, and is also the current captain of the Uttar Pradesh state side.
But, Kohli remains a firm option after leading the franchise in the past for eight years, and his international captaincy record speaks for itself too.
"I don't think it has been confirmed yet, but he will be the captain, I think, looking at the squad," AB de Villiers said on his YouTube channel (via The Hindustan Times).
"We got Bhuvneshwar Kumar, happy with Josh Hazlewood. We did miss out on a couple here and there. Rabada was close, but at least we got Lungi Ngidi. He's got a wonderful slower ball, if he is in form and fit, he is a force to be reckoned with," De Villiers said of the bowling attack.
Kohli did lead RCB on a couple of occasions in the previous cycle when Du Plessis was nursing an injury and had to come in as an impact player.
"We are missing a match-winning spinner" - AB de Villiers
While De Villiers praised RCB's work at the auction table, he lamented over the lack of a bonafide proven spinner. In terms of tweakers, the franchise roped in leg-spinner Suyash Sharma, and also have three left-arm spin options in the form of Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, and Jacob Bethell.
"It's a well-balanced squad, we are missing a match-winning spinner but hopefully we are able to balance the squad in such a manner that we make Chinnaswamy a fortress. This squad should work at Chinnaswamy," De Villiers opined (as per the aforementioned source).
The former Proteas star also spoke about how a mid-season transfer window, which was in place during the early part of the decade, would be convenient for teams to fill the gaps in their squad.
"I wish the IPL and the BCCI will bring out a transfer window, where half-way through the tournament, we could make transfers. You can possibly get an extra spinner into the squad, a wrist spinner, perhaps, or you could go back to the unsold list. It's something to think about," he concluded.
RCB have had wicket-taking spinners like Yuzvendra Chahal and Wanindu Hasaranga in the past, but lacked such options last season, with the likes of Karn Sharma, Swapnil Singh, and Mahipal Lomror to work with.