Veteran commentator Aakash Chopra said that Virat Kohli will lead the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL 2025. He also added that RCB don’t have another potential captaincy candidate in their squad as well. Kohli gave up the RCB captaincy after IPL 2021 and Faf du Plessis took over the reins from him and led the franchise to the playoffs in two of the last three seasons as well. However, he was neither retained nor reacquired at the recent auction as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, he said, “Isn’t it confirmed now that Kohli will be the captain? Shreyas Iyer isn’t there. They didn’t take Rishabh Pant. They didn’t take KL Rahul as well. They were the captaincy candidates. They didn’t take Faf du Plessis as well,” he reasoned. “When they have not taken anyone, they have probably made up their mind to go back to Virat Kohli, and he will once again become this team’s captain. They also thought that they wouldn’t pick anyone who was with them.”

In the same video, Aakash Chopra also stated that RCB seem to have the philosophy of not keeping any other Indian batter apart from Virat
Kohli as well.

“Another thing noticeable in this team, which is the story of the last eight to 10 years, is that Virat Kohli is one high-profile Indian batter, and they don’t keep any other Indian batter with that profile. At times, you are unable to keep it at all because no one is available as they don’t come to the auction. They had a chance this time, but they didn’t pick this time as well,” he said.

“Not taking anything away from Rajat Patidar, but let’s be honest, Ishan Kishan too would have looked different had he been opening. However, they don’t keep anyone. Virat Kohli will remain at the top but they try not to have an Indian batter with a profile close to him, and they maintained that philosophy this time as well,” Aakash Chopra concluded.