Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Director of Cricket Mo Bobat said that no decison has been made as to who will captain the franchise in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season next year.
This comes amid several media reports claiming that star India batter Virat Kohli will once again be back as RCB’s captain, after initially giving up the post in 2021 season after a see-saw journey as a skipper since 2013, which included a runners-up finish in 2016, where they lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight runs.
RCB announced on Thursday that they have retained Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, and Yash Dayal ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction to be held this year.
Speaking in a video after the retention announcement, Bobat ruled out that Virat has been finalised as a captain.
“I am sorry to disappoint everybody listening. We have not made any decision related to captaincy or on that (Kohli returning as skipper) as yet. We are open to options. The only obvious decision we made was not to retain Faf. He did a great job last year and the year before that. So from our perspective, we will keep a very open mind when we head to the auction,” said Bobat in a video posted by RCB.
Under Faf’s captaincy from 2022, RCB reached playoffs in two out of three seasons in 2022 and this year. This year’s progress to playoffs was more special, given it came after they had won just one game in the first half of the competition and won six matches on the bounce to secure their final four spot.
He also revealed that not retaining pacer Mohammed Siraj, who has been in the core of the franchise since 2018, having taken 83 wickets in 87 matches, was the “toughest decision” given his strong performances for RCB and India over the years. He had taken 15 wickets in 14 matches last season.
“Regarding Mohammed Siraj, not retaining him was our toughest decision. We value his contributions, having been a strong performer for RCB and India over the years. However, we wanted to enter the auction with as many options open as possible, especially to build a balanced bowling attack capable of competing effectively in the IPL and other formats,” Bobat said.