Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach Venkatesh Prasad has questioned the side over their intentions to win their maiden IPL title. Ahead of IPL 2025, RCB only has two local talents – Manoj Bhandage and Devdutt Padikkal – as a part of their squad. Prasad slammed RCB over their strategy and for being over-reliant on players outside Karnataka instead.
Ex-RCB head coach laments lack of vocal for local in IPL 2025
Speaking on JioHotstar, Prasad questioned RCB’s strategy for IPL 2025, wondering if they were truly focused on winning the title. He pointed out that while other franchises were putting their faith in local talents, RCB was not doing so. He said that it was the team’s job to get the best out of the players which they had failed to do so far.
“How a team is managed makes all the difference. Other teams are putting faith in local talent, so why is not RCB doing the same? Are they building a brand, or are they truly focused on winning the IPL? They need to get the best out of their players, which has not happened so far,” Venkatesh Prasad said.
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While RCB did have local talents such as Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Vinay Kumar among others in the past, the current squad hardly has any such players. With just two Karnataka players in the squad at present, RCB truly lack the vocal for local component. Meanwhile, the trophy-less franchise has named Rajat Patidar as the new captain ahead of IPL 2025.
RCB full squad for IPL 2025
Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal, Liam Livingstone, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Manoj Bhandage. Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chikara, Lungi Ngidi, Mohit Rathee, Abhinandan Singh
