AB de Villiers backs Virat Kohli to lead RCB in IPL 2025

Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter AB de Villiers has put his weight behind Virat Kohli to lead the franchise in IPL 2025. It has been reported that Kohli is set to return as a leader after Faf du Plessis was not retained by the franchise before the IPL 2025 mega auction but the official confirmation is yet to be made by the team.

Kohli was retained for INR 21 crore before the auction and he is all set to lead RCB. The talisman had relinquished his captaincy duties after IPL 2021 and RCB then passed the baton to Faf du Plessis.

“I don’t think it has been confirmed yet, but he will be the captain, I think, looking at the squad,” said AB de Villiers on his official YouTube channel.

RCB was able to rope in fast bowlers like Josh Hazlewood, Lungi Ngidi, and veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the IPL 2025 mega auction.

“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,” said the former Proteas captain.

RCB also bid for Ravichandran Ashwin but the veteran off-spinner was bagged by Chennai Super Kings. However, AB is happy with the squad that RCB has assembled.

 “We missed out on Ravichandran Ashwin. CSK got him, but very happy to see him in the yellow jersey again. But all in all, I’m fairly happy. 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.”

The former South African skipper feels RCB will miss a quality spinner in the upcoming edition of the IPL.

“On the road, I feel we might miss out on someone who turns both ways,” he noted.

The 2025 edition will begin on 14 March 2025, with the final scheduled for 25 May 2025.