“4-5 leaders are there” - COO breaks silence on whether Virat Kohli will become RCB captain for IPL 2025

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Chief Operating Officer Rajesh Menon revealed that the franchise are still considering their options before announcing their next captain. The three-time finalists are on the lookout for a new leader after parting ways with Faf du Plessis at the end of the 2024 season.

RCB assembled a new team from scratch at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega-auction, after retaining only Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, and Yash Dayal following the culmination of the three-year cycle.

Early reports have suggested that Kohli, who led the side for nine seasons from 2013, could be back as captain. He had stepped down after the 2021 season, but he led the team on a few sporadic occasions when Faf du Plessis had to feature as an impact player due to an injury.

The other candidates in the team who have leadership experience are Rajat Patidar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya, Liam Livingstone, and Phil Salt. Patidar, Pandya, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar led their respective sides in the 2024 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Patidar had led Madhya Pradesh into the final of the tournament, only to lose out to Mumbai.

Liam Livingstone and Phil Salt have both led the national side in Jos Buttler's absence in recent times.

Menon stated that the newly assembled squad has a few leaders, but the final decision regarding the captaincy is yet to be taken.

“Currently we have not decided anything. We have multiple leaders in the team. 4-5 leaders are there. We have not deliberated what we need to do. We will deliberate, and we will come to a conclusion," Menon said in an interview with Sports Today.

Notably, RCB head coach Andy Flower had also stated the same when he was quizzed regarding the captaincy ahead of the ILT20 2025 season.

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"People thought we were not participating in the auction" - RCB COO on the franchise's auction strategy

RCB went into the auction with a heavy purse, second only to the Punjab Kings (PBKS). However, they were far from aggressive when it came to bidding in the formative stages. The franchise did not go after the marquee names and had a rather subdued first day in Jeddah.

“If you see Day 1, it was low-key for us. People thought we were not participating in the auction, but at the end of Day 2, everybody, right from fans to experts, felt saying what we have done is the best because we have covered all the gaps, and I think we have got one of the best teams," Menon added

RCB almost went all-out for Venkatesh Iyer and broke the bank for the likes of Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as all whom crossed the INR 10 crore mark.