AB de Villiers Hints at Virat Kohli’s Return as RCB Skipper for IPL 2025
The ongoing debate surrounding the new skipper of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has sparked considerable buzz ahead of the IPL 2025 season. Amid critiques of their IPL 2025 auction strategy, where the team made minimal purchases and retained only three players, RCB has managed to form a balanced squad. While the captaincy remains up for discussion, former RCB star AB de Villiers has made a significant claim, suggesting that Virat Kohli could make a return as the team’s captain.
Speaking in a recent video on his YouTube channel, AB de Villiers hinted that Kohli is likely to reclaim the role of RCB’s captain for IPL 2025, although he confirmed that nothing official has been announced yet. “I don’t think it has been confirmed yet, but he will be the captain, I think, looking at the squad,” de Villiers said, adding weight to the speculation.
RCB’s IPL 2025 auction strategy was notably conservative, with the team only acquiring two players—Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Krunal Pandya—both of whom have some captaincy experience. However, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar has briefly served as interim captain for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Krunal Pandya is still without IPL captaincy experience, despite being the captain of Baroda in domestic cricket.
Despite the uncertainty over the captaincy, de Villiers expressed satisfaction with the squad RCB has built for the upcoming season. He specifically praised the additions of Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar but noted that the team missed out on acquiring seasoned spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was snapped up by Chennai Super Kings. “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,” de Villiers shared.
He also pointed out the team’s need for a match-winning spinner, a missing piece in an otherwise solid lineup. Nevertheless, de Villiers is optimistic about RCB’s potential and believes that the squad is well-suited to perform at their home ground, Chinnaswamy Stadium. “This squad should work at Chinnaswamy,” he added, aiming to make it a fortress for the team.
As the IPL 2025 season approaches, all eyes will be on RCB’s leadership decision, with fans eagerly awaiting whether Kohli will return to lead the franchise once again.
