IPL 2025: Why Virat Kohli wasn’t made RCB captain?

Though speculation was rife that veteran cricketer Virat Kohli will be appointed as the captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for the 2025 edition of the cash-rich Indian Premier League, the franchise appointed Rajat Patidar as the skipper.

Reflecting on why Kohli was not chosen as the captain of RCB, RCB’s director of operation Mo Bapat said, “To choose from, you know, whether we went Indian or overseas was an important discussion point for us. We felt quite strongly that an Indian captain was preferable. That’s nothing against any overseas options. Of course, you know, we’ve talked glowingly about that, but we looked really keenly at an Indian option, primarily because it’s an Indian competition on Indian pitches against predominantly Indian players. So somebody who’s got that local knowledge and insight is really, really helpful for us. So, look, lots of options.”

“Of course, Virat was an option. You know, that goes without saying, and I know that the fans would have probably leant towards Virat in the first instance, but we’ve seen a lot of look for Rajat too. Look, my point on Virat would be that Virat doesn’t need a captaincy title to lead. I think leadership, as we’ve all seen, is one of his strongest instincts. I think it just comes naturally to let me lead regardless. For us, even last year with Fafa’s captain, we saw every bit of that. He leads, as an example, with the back, the volume of runs and the strike rate that he scored out last year was so impressive and so important for us. He set the tone. He leads in the field,” he added.

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Notably, Kohli has led RCB with utmost dedication and zeal for 10 years. But, ever since he stepped down, it was unlikely he would up the role again.

Kohli has wished Patidar all the best for this new chapter of his career.