'Virat Kohli to return as captain?': RCB's director of cricket gives major update ahead of IPL 2025 season

Virat Kohli was among the players retained by Royal Challengers Bengaluru prior to the IPL Auction 2025, for a whopping Rs 21 crores. The team made the decision to release Faf du Plessis, who served as captain in the previous season, signaling that Kohli would resume his leadership role.

When questioned about the captaincy of RCB, Mo Bobat, the team's director of cricket, chose not to disclose any information. However, he did comment on Kohli, stating that, "Virat is a central figure, he is a senior member of the team. But we haven't made any decision when it comes to captaincy. We will decide later on. He dropped a few hot text messages to us yesterday, giving us feedback."

In addition to retaining Virat Kohli, RCB also secured the services of Rajat Patidar for Rs11 crore and pacer Yash Dayal for Rs5 crore.

During the IPL Auction 2025, RCB made significant investments in Phil Salt and Jitesh Sharma, with a whopping Rs11.50 crores spent on the England opener and 11 crores on the Indian wicketkeeper-batter.

The team further bolstered its lineup by acquiring England all-rounder Liam Livingstone for Rs8.75 crores and welcoming back Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood for the same amount.

RCB made a substantial investment in veteran bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, shelling out Rs10.75 crores for his services. Additional acquisitions include Rasikh Dar (Rs6 crore), Suyash Sharma (Rs2.6 crore), and Krunal Pandya (Rs5.75 crore).

Also read| IPL Auction 2025: Complete list of sold and unsold players on Day 2