Former South African captain AB de Villiers applauded the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for creating a well-balanced squad in their title-winning IPL 2025 campaign, relieving pressure on legendary players like Virat Kohli. After 17 years of heartbreak, RCB finally broke their jinx with a memorable win in IPL 2025.
Talking about RCB’s win last year, De Villiers said on his YouTube channel: “The difference last year was that someone like Virat and a couple of other big players didn’t feel the pressure they used to in the past. There is a lot more firepower in all departments. They seem like a very balanced squad.”
“Bhuvneshwar is experienced and a great bowler. I think he has dropped half a yard of pace over the last 18 to 24 months. That one extra yard makes a big difference. When I watched him last season, I felt like he was a little bit slow through the air compared to when I played him in 2016. Even with Hazlewood, there is no raw pace in that lineup. So they are lacking a bit of X-factor in the seam department,” further added De Villiers. “They may be just lacking 1 or 2% in the bowling, but overall, it’s a well-balanced squad. Having won the trophy, they’ll have the belief now. They just have to start well.”
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Meanwhile, former Indian opener Abhinav Mukund believes bowling could be a concern for RCB this season in the absence of Josh Hazlewood and Yash Dayal as well.
“The bowling is still a little bit of a concern. If Hazlewood isn’t available, then there is a big drop off between the next two, Tushara and Duffy. Neither of them is a proven IPL performer. The potential replacement for Yash Dayal is Mangesh Yadav, who is always very raw,” said Mukund (via the aforementioned source).
“There will be a lot of onus on Bhuvneshwar to carry that bowling lineup. There was a lot of talk that the RCB spinners couldn’t penetrate, but they ended up doing a good job last year. But batting, they have an upgrade with Venkatesh Iyer, and their last seven looks very good,” he concluded.
