"They have probably made up their mind to go back to Virat Kohli" - Aakash Chopra on RCB not picking any captaincy candidate in IPL 2025 auction

Aakash Chopra reckons Virat Kohli will captain the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL 2025. He noted that RCB don't have another potential captaincy candidate in their squad.

Kohli gave up the RCB captaincy after IPL 2021. Faf du Plessis took over from him and led the franchise to the playoffs in two of the last three seasons. However, the South African opener was neither retained nor reacquired at the recent auction.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener opined that RCB have potentially decided to reinstate Kohli as their skipper.

"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 (0:01).

"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," Chopra added.

RCB bid for Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul at the auction but failed to acquire them. While they didn't bid for Shreyas Iyer, they opted not to use the Right to Match card for Du Plessis, who was acquired by the Delhi Capitals (DC) for just ₹2 crore.

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"They don't keep any other Indian batter with that profile" - Aakash Chopra on Virat Kohli being the only high-profile Indian batter in RCB's squad

RCB retained Virat Kohli for ₹21 crore ahead of the auction. [P/C: iplt20.com]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that RCB seem to have the philosophy of not keeping any high-profile Indian batter apart from Virat Kohli.

"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 (9:30).

The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that the Bengaluru-based franchise could have acquired Ishan Kishan apart from Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul at the auction.

"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," Chopra observed.

Chopra acknowledged that RCB were willing to pay big bucks for Venkatesh Iyer but were outbid by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He opined that it could be because of the absence of a top-order left-handed batter in their squad.