Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) drifted away from an age old strategy of paying over the odds for a few players in an attempt to form a balanced squad at the recently concluded IPL Mega Auction 2025.
The Bengaluru-based franchise had earlier spent most of their budget on overseas stars, and compensated with make do players to form the rest of the squad, and even the playing 11 at times.
Having retained only Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Yash Dayal before the two-day auction in Jeddah, RCB headed into the bidding process with the second highest purse of Rs 83 crore, prompting fans and experts to believe that the franchise will land one of the marquee Indian players.
However, RCB opted to not spend heavy on any of the trio of KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, but instead surprisingly went over Rs 20 crore for Venkatesh Iyer, who eventually ended up at Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 23.75 Crore.
Many believe RCB dodged the bullet as they missed out on landing Venkatesh Iyer as it would have put the spanner in the works in their auction plans. After missing out on the KKR all-rounder, RCB added several players to fix key areas.
Despite RCB assembling a 22-member squad with still Rs 75 Lakh in their kitty at the close of auction, several experts and fans have had a mixed opinion about how the team fared at the auction as some feel the lack of a well-known spinner may hurt the team.
Also, some feel the lack of a quick bowler and limited number of left-handed batting options in the squad will also be a disadvantage to the team in many games. RCB needed at least 9 immediate picks having retained only 3 players from their 2024 squad.
While they bought back three of their former players in Manoj Bhandage, Swapnil Singh, Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the Bengaluru-based side also landed the likes of Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone, Tim David, Jitesh Sharma and Krunal Pandya among others.
Having missed out on the left-handed top order batter, RCB managed to buy Karnataka batter Devdutt Padikkal in the accelerated round after the southpaw returned from the unsold set.
RCB also added Jacob Bethell, Nuwan Thushara and Romario Shepherd as their overseas players, while Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chikkara and Abhinandan Singh. Here is a look at the full squad of RCB for IPL 2025:
RCB IPL 2025 Squad
Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal, Liam Livingstone, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Salam Dar, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee.
With the new players arriving, let’s take a look at how RCB can lineup in the coming season and what will be the Bengaluru-based sides strongest playing 11 and impact player option going into IPL 2025:
How Will Royal Challengers Bengaluru Lineup in The New IPL Season?
Kohli, who is likely to be named the captain again, is also expected to open the batting alongside England wicketkeeper-batter Phil Salt with Liam Livingstone and Rajat Patidar set to make up the top four.
If they want a left-handed option, RCB could use Devdutt Padikkal in the top order with Livingstone and Patidar dropping down the batting line up. Tim David and Jitesh Sharma, who will keep wickets, will be the finishers.
Krunal Pandya will play a crucial role with both bat and ball, while Swapnil Singh could also play a similar role. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood and Yash Dayal are expected to be the pace options with Suyash Sharma and Rasikh Salam expected to be used as impact players.
If not Padikkal, RCB can use Jacob Bethell with Tim David dropping out of the playing 11. The Challengers also have the option of using Romario Shepherd and Nuwan Thushara depending on the conditions.
At Chinnaswamy Stadium, RCB is likely to start with Rasikh Dar to strengthen their bowling options over a Swapnil Singh, who will be handy in spin friendly wickets, especially at Chepauk or Ekana.
RCB’s Best 11 for IPL 2025
- Virat Kohli (captain)
- Phil Salt
- Liam Livingstone
- Rajat Patidar
- Tim David
- Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper)
- Krunal Pandya
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar
- Rasikh Dhar
- Josh Hazlewood
- Yash Dayal
- Swapnil Singh or Suyash Sharma (Impact Player)