"Too many Englishmen" - Adam Gilchrist’s cheeky prediction on team he feels will come last in IPL 2025

Former Australian wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist has made a cheeky prediction on who will end up at the bottom of the points table in IPL 2025. Gilchrist hilariously stated that the Royal Challangers Bengaluru (RCB) have a fair chance of finishing last due to too many England players in their squad.

The likes of Phil Salt, Jacob Bethell, Liam Livingstone will turn out for the Royal Challengers this year. While Salt and Livingstone have played in the lucrative league before, Bethell will feature for the first time. The spin-bowling all-rounder may be under a bit of a pressure as the franchise shelled out ₹2.6 crore on him in the auction.

Speaking on the Club Prairie Fire Podcast, the legendary keeper-batter made the prediction about RCB and cheekily apologised to fans, clarifying that it's nothing against Virat Kohli.

"I think there's a fair chance it might be because I'm basing it on the fact that there's just too many Englishmen in the squad. So, RCB. On the back of having too many Englishmen in there. Nothing against Virat, nothing against their fans. I apologise to the fans, but you've got to talk to your recruiting agents," Gilchrist said via Hindustan Times.

The Royal Challengers are one of the few franchises that are yet to win the IPL. They have made it to the finals thrice but fell short on all occasions. The focus will again be on Kohli, who has not only played for the franchise since 2008, but is also the highest run-getter in the tournament history.

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"Don't think they've got a very good team" - Michael Vaughan's concern for Delhi Capitals ahead of IPL 2025

Michael Vaughan. (Image Credits: Getty)

Ex-England skipper Michael Vaughan, who was also present on the podcast, has predicted the Delhi Capitals to finish last, given the lack of quality Indian batters. He explained:

"I just don't think they've got a very good team. My reason is that I believe you need high-class Indian batters to play on those wickets. They've got KL Rahul, that's it, really. Karun Nair and all the rest are Fraser McGurk, Faf du Plessis, and Tristan Stubbs. I mean, they've got Axar Patel probably about in the middle, but they just don't seem to have enough quality Indian batters."

The Delhi Capitals are also yet to win the trophy and their best performance was reaching the final in IPL 2020.