Royal Challengers Bengaluru are all set to unveil their new captain for IPL 2025 at 11.30 AM on Thursday. While reports had earlier stated that Virat Kohli was primed to return as skipper for RCB, that is most likely not to happen. Other faces have reportedly emerged as frontrunners in the race for captaincy. RCB are on the hunt for a new captain after releasing Faf du Plessis ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction.
New RCB captain announcement LIVE
Virat Kohli or Patidar – who will be next RCB captain?
As per Times of India, Kohli is not expected to take up RCB captaincy once again despite holding discussions with the team management during “leadership vacuum” . The report claims that the RCB think tank is now forced to look for other options as the team’s auction strategy was based on Kohli returning as skipper. Further, Rajat Patidar has emerged as frontrunner after the team’s consultations with senior Team India players and the RCB camp.
Patidar is no stranger to captaincy. He recently led Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy where the team finished as runners-up. With the bat too, he has been in stellar form over the past year.
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Krunal Pandya in the race too
All-rounder Krunal Pandya, who was bagged by RCB in the IPL 2025 auction, is also in the race to become the next RCB captain. Pandya has led his domestic side – Baroda – in the past and has proved his credentials as captain. The repot states that Krunal has “always been in the leadership plans of the franchise”.
RCB under Kohli
Virat Kohli took over the captaincy from New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori in the 2013 season and led RCB until 2021. During his tenure, RCB secured 66 wins in 143 matches, losing 70, while three games ended in a tie, and four had no result.
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