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Former captain Virat Kohli may lead Royal Challengers Bengaluru again in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL), according to RCB legend AB de Villiers. There is a lot of conjecture surrounding the Bengaluru-based team's undetermined captain. The leading candidate to take over the position again is Kohli, who captained the RCB from 2013 to 2021. Under his leadership, RCB made it to the playoffs four times and nearly won the championship in 2016. Fans' hopes that the squad will eventually win its first IPL trophy have been revived by his possible return to the leadership role.
"I don't think it has been confirmed yet, but he will be the captain, I think, looking at the squad," AB de Villiers talked about potential captain Kohli's comeback on his official YouTube channel. Kohli is the clear choice because neither of the new RCB additions, including seasoned players Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Krunal Pandya, has much IPL captaincy experience.
However, De Villiers was satisfied by the franchise's work in the IPL mega auction and their newly assembled squad, especially the team's pace arsenal. "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 player
The former RCB batsman stressed that the team was well-rounded overall, despite acknowledging the loss of veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was signed by the 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, 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."
Notwithstanding his optimism, De Villiers identified a crucial weakness in RCB's lineup: the absence of a game-winning spinner with the ability to flip the ball both ways. "On the road, I feel we might miss out on someone who turns both ways," he said.
De Villiers pushed for the IPL to implement a mid-season transfer window in order to remedy this. "I wish the IPL and the BCCI would bring out a transfer window, where halfway through the tournament, we could make transfers. You could possibly get an extra spinner into the squad or go back to the unsold list. It's something to think about," he said.
