Players Royal Challengers Bengaluru Should Retain: One of the most popular teams in the IPL, despite never winning the league, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in 2024, winning six must-win games in a row to go from the bottom of the table to a playoff spot. And although they finished fourth that season, this team will go into the next season in high spirits.
The new player retention rules for IPl 2025 allow for a maximum of six players to be retained, five of which can be capped. There is no limit to overseas layers in capped retentions. Teams can also retain a maximum of two uncapped players. It should also be noted that if a team does not use up all of its retention slots, they can use Right To Match (RTM) for one of their players in the auction. This also means that multiple players in this list can instead be retained via RTM.
Looking to win the IPL for the first time, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru will enter a new era of their franchise. Let’s see what players they are likely to take into this era.
Here are six players Royal Challengers Bengaluru to retain for IPL 2025.
Players Royal Challengers Bengaluru Should Retain
1) Virat Kohli – 18 Crore
Virat Kohli is the greatest IPL batsman of all time. This is a surprisingly uncontroversial statement despite being such a momentous subject. Kohli has been a fixture in the league since its beginning in 2008, being a Royal Challengers Bengaluru player in all that time. While he is one of the very few Indian greats to not have won the league, he is the highest run scorer and highest ton-getter in tournament history.
With him retiring from T20Is, IPl will be the only T20 cricket Kohli will play from now on. With no pressure to perform in the league for the first time in his career, we might see the true and free Virat Kohli for the first time in his career. That in itself is worth the admission fee.
At 35, Virat still has a few good years of cricket ahead of him. As the greatest anchor batter in T20 history, plus the eyeballs he brings to the franchise, he is one of the few cricketers worth more than 18 crore in the league.
2) Faf du Plessis – 14 Crore
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are in a tough spot when it comes to their captaincy. While he had a decent season with the bat in 2024 and the team scripted a historic comeback in the latter half of the season, questions will be raised about whether Faf will be the team’s captain for the next 3-4 years or will the franchise look to pick a young Indian batter, as many others have done.
Despite that, Faf du Plessis is a reliable top- or middle-order batsman and has had one of the most underrated IPL careers out of any batter, even in the conversation of being in the all-time XI for the league.
While the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green could be in this spot as well, both Aussie all-rounders had a poor 2024 season and are not consistent enough to be retained for such a high price.
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3) Rajat Patidar – 11 Crore
Rajat Patidar is a late bloomer. Even when he broke onto the scene in 2022, he was injured and had to miss the entire IPL season in 2023. While he doesn’t exactly fit the mould of a young Indian batter in line to be the future captain of the franchise, he is a solid middle-order batter who can win a few games for his side with his sheer explosiveness.
While he failed to live up to all the hype in his initial team India appearances, Patidar is still one of the highest-rated middle-order batters in the country and has done well on the domestic. It remains to be seen whether he can have a full salon of greatness in the IPL, something he did for eight matches in 2022.
4) Mohammed Siraj – 18 Crore
Being the highest-rated and most experienced international-level bowler in this team makes Mohammed Siraj ‘official’ly the spearhead of Royal Challenger Bengaluru’s bowling attack. It might come as a surprise to many, but Siraj has never had a 20-wicket season in the IPL.
The Hyderabad-based pacer has never been the most consistent bowler in the world, but his potential has always been too high to not have him be a big part of the team.
It is true that Mohammed Siraj is one of the best bowlers on the planet in his day, with the ability to win a match single-handedly for his team. And it is this ability of his that makes him a highly sought-after name in the IPL.
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5) Will Jacks – 14 Crore
One player on this list who will most definitely be an RTM retention rather than a regular one, Will Jacks, played only half a season in IPl 2024 but showed why he is considered one of the best up-and-coming all-rounders in T20 cricket.
With the ability to bat anywhere in the batting order, Jacks is one of the most attacking batters in international cricket at the moment, something he showed off with his fine 100 last season. He can even bowl a few overs of spin here and there.
Will Jacks will most likely go into the auction, where he probably will be picked up by RCB via the RTM. However, he might be one of the players for whom several teams will enter the bidding war.
6) Vijay Kumar Vyshak (Uncapped) – 4 Crore
In an era dominated by batters, Vijay Kumar Vyshak has emerged as one of the most promising Indian pacers in recent times. A specialised medium-pace bowler is a rarity these days. But Vikay has shown that he can bowl at any point of the inning fairly successfully.
The Karnataka-based bowler has played only 11 matches in two seasons, missing most of the 2024 league. Despite that, he is a handy bowler to have in the prime years of his career who can form a decent Indian pace bowling duo alongside Mohammed Siraj.
Check Out: Players Royal Challengers Bengaluru Should Retain
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