IPL 2025: 5 Capped and 1 uncapped player RCB might retain ahead of the mega-auction

3. Virat Kohli

You need to address the elephant first. Virat Kohli is going nowhere and will be Bengaluru’s first retention ahead of IPL 2025. The star India batter never played for any other franchise and has a very strong connection with the fans, which would only grow in the coming years. When it comes to performance, there’s no doubt about his calibre, as the 35-year-old finished as the leading run-scorer in 2024.

Kohli played 252 matches for RCB and has scored 8004 runs at a strike rate of 131.97. In 2016, the Delhi-born batter stunned the cricketing fraternity as he smashed 973 runs - which is still the most runs scored by a batter in a single edition of the competition. Apart from batting, Virat’s character is vital for RCB as well.

Despite being one of the greatest white-ball batters in history, he has never won IPL gold and would be hungry to get the job done before bidding goodbye. Being 35, he doesn’t have much time left and for the same reason, the upcoming cycle is vital for him. The team is most likely to be built around him and if he could inspire the team to push harder, RCB can dream of its maiden IPL.