Royal Challengers Bengaluru retentions IPL 2025: Despite never winning the league, Royal Challengers Bengaluru is one of the most popular franchises in the IPL, with one of the largest and most loyal fan bases. Their retention policy ahead of the IPL 2025 auction was a simple one: retain players who might go for more in the auction and keep a hold on Virat Kohli.
Having retained only three players, RCB will go into the auction with three Right to Match (RTM) cards, which they might use on one of their many big players that they have let go.
With a skeleton crew in the team, the Royal Challengers have only spent Rs. 37 crore to retain players and have a whopping 83 crore to spend in the auction. Here are all Royal Challengers Bengaluru retentions IPL 2025.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru retentions IPL 2025
1) Virat Kohli – 21 Crore
Retaining Virat Kohli was an absolute no-brainer for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Not only is he the greatest player in franchise history, but he is also the most successful batter in the history of the league.
Since the start of the IPL in 2008, Kohli has been with RCB. In the 17 seasons since, he has scored 8428 runs in 267 matches for the team. This is not only the most runs by a player for a franchise, but the most runs scored by a player in IPL history. He has scored these runs at an average of 38.66. Virat is also a two-time Orange Cap winner.
Even if he is not in fine form, which he is in T20s after winning the Orange Cap for the 2024 season, retaining Virat Kohli is a good financial decision as well. His presence in the team not only brings the majority of their fans but also a lot of sponsors. And with no other senior player on the retention list, he might return as the king of the franchise.
Check Out: All Mumbai Indians Retentions For IPL 2025
2) Rajat Patidar – 11 Crore
So far, Rajat Patidar has only played one full season in the IPL. After making his debut in 2021, he shined bright for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2022 for eight matches before getting injured. Skipping the 2023 seasons, he finally played a full one in 2024 and looked good.
The middle-order batter struggled for the first half of the season, along with the rest of the team. But it was his return to form in the second half that spurred RCB’s historic run to the knockouts this season. In 27 IPL games so far, he has scored 799 runs with a mammoth strike rate of 158.85.
Retaining Rajat Patidar shows that RCB has an eye on the future. Despite being 31 years old, Patidar will give at least 4-5 years of good cricket. And if he plays like he has played on occasion in this league, he can be the middle-order star/finisher for this franchise.
3) Yash Dayal – 4 Crore
The only uncapped retention, Yash Dayal has seen his stock rise exponentially in the past year. While most would remember him for conceding five sixes in the last over against Rinku Singh while playing for the Gujarat Titans in 2023, he has been a stalwart in domestic cricket since then, doing well in First Class and especially List A cricket.
Having been bought by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of the 2024 season, Dayal proved the doubters wrong. In what was a poor season with the ball for the franchise, Yash was the team’s highest wicket-taker with 14 wickets in 13 games, taking them with a better economy than the other pacers in the side.
Retaining Yash Dayal is big for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and shows their faith in a future prospect who is doing well in the domestic circuit.
Check Out: Royal Challengers Bengaluru retentions IPL 2025
Big Players Not Retained
Having retained only three players despite reaching the playoffs in 2024, there are a lot of massive names that the Royal Challengers Bengaluru have not retained. The biggest name among those might be Mohammed Siraj. Apart from being one of the most popular players in the team, he has consistently been the side’s top pace bowler for seasons. Another surprising pacer release is Akash Deep, who has been doing well for the Indian Test side.
Another massive release is the team captain Faf du Plessis. Despite being up there in terms of age, he has consistently been very good with the bat wherever he has played in the IPL, in the last two seasons being with the RCB. Speaking of foreign players, not retaining one out of Will Jacks, Glenn Maxwell, and Cameron Green is surprising as well.
This team also had a fine blend of uncapped players; at least one of them might return to the franchise with an RTM card. The likes of wicketkeeper Anuj Rawat, pacer Vjay Kumar Vyshak, and all-rounder Mahipal Lomror.
Check Out: Royal Challengers Bengaluru retentions IPL 2025
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