Top 5 statements made by Virat Kohli in recent RCB event ahead of IPL 2025

Star Indian batter Virat Kohli has reached Bengaluru ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. Kohli was retained by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for a whopping ₹21 crore ahead of the mega auction.

Virat Kohli recently addressed an event held by the franchise at the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence in Bengaluru. The star cricketer made several statements that caught many fans' attention.

Kohli has been a part of the franchise since the league's inception in 2008 and also previously captained them. He is the leading run-scorer for the franchise and overall in the IPL with 8004 runs from 252 games with eight hundreds and 55 half-centuries.

RCB will begin their IPL 2025 campaign against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday, March 22. Ahead of the new season, let's take a look at some of Kohli's top statements at RCB's recent event in Bengaluru.

Top 5 statements made by Virat Kohli in recent RCB event ahead of IPL 2025:

---

#5 On cricket at the 2028 LA Olympics

Cricket has been included (T20 format) in the 2028 Los Angeles (LA) Olympics Programme. Virat Kohli, who announced his retirement from T20Is after India won the 2024 T20 World Cup, was asked if he would reverse his decision to get an Olympic medal.

“If we are playing the gold medal match, I might sneak in for one game.. get a medal and come back home," he jokingly replied (via SportStar).

However, on a serious note, he said he was happy with the news and deemed it a great opportunity.

“When I heard the news, I was happy. The T20 leagues that are played all over the world, including the IPL (Indian Premier League), have played a massive role. It’s a great opportunity. Getting to be Olympic champions would be a great thing. The first of its kind. I am sure we will be somewhere close to the medal," he said.

The cricketer also added that India will have a chance of winning the medal and credited T20 leagues as well.

---

#4 On not posting on social media after India's 2025 Champions Trophy win

Virat Kohli did not put up a post on social media for India's 2025 Champions Trophy win. This became a topic of extensive discussion as he had put up a post after they won the 2024 T20 World Cup.

However, Kohli cleared the air and explained the reason for not putting up a post after winning the marquee ICC event.

“Posting about us winning the Champions Trophy is not going to increase the happiness in my heart. They all know that we’ve won the trophy, so me posting about it is not going to give us two trophies. The reality is going to stay the same. I look at it like that. People saying ‘oh, you’re amazing’ in the comments doesn’t matter,” he said.

His Instagram handle had a sponsored post that featured a private bank the morning after India's win, which led to the online chatter.

---

#3 On the quality of cricket broadcast

When Virat Kohli returned to play domestic cricket for Delhi in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season, his lunch order of chilli paneer became a topic of discussion. He hit back at the broadcasters, saying that a cricket show should rather talk about the game than the players' food choices.

"A broadcast show needs to talk about the game and not what I ate yesterday for lunch or my favourite chole-bhature place in Delhi. You can't have that in cricket matches. Rather, you could talk about what an athlete is going through," he said (via NDTV Sports).

There have been many past instances where broadcasters were seemingly obsessed with Virat Kohli's eating habits and his favorite food places.

---

#2 On having family on India's tours

The BCCI recently laid out several rules and policies after India's series defeat to Australia in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. One of the policies included reducing the time allowed for family members to accompany a player on tours.

However, Virat Kohli spoke in favor of having family on India's tours. He said that cricket is a different responsibility and a player needs to come back to life after finishing that.

"If you ask any player, do you want your family to be around you all the time? You'll be like, yes. I don't want to go to my room and just sit alone and sulk. I want to be able to be normal. And then you can really treat your game as something that is a responsibility. You finish that responsibility, and you come back to life," he stated (via ESPNCricinfo).

"I don't think people have an understanding of what value it brings to a large extent. And I feel quite disappointed about that because it's like people who have no control over what's going on are kind of brought into conversations and put out at the forefront that, 'oh, maybe they need to be kept away," he added.

---

#1 On his retirement and Australia tour

Virat Kohli failed to perform well in the recent Australia tour, scoring just 199 runs from five Tests. While he has generally succeeded in Australia, he may not go Down Under for another series in the longest format.

"I might not have another Australia tour in me, so I am at peace with whatever happened in the past," he revealed (via The Times of India).

However, he quickly clarified that he was not retiring and loved playing cricket.

"Don't get nervous. I'm not making any announcements. As of now, everything is fine. I still love playing the game," he added.

Virat Kohli is still a part of the Test and ODI teams after having retired from T20Is.