IPL 2025: Royal Challengers Bengaluru retained players, released players and purse remaining ahead of mega auction

Royal Challengers Bengaluru were always clear about their retention plans. They have done well in the last few years but winning an IPL trophy is still on the wishlist. The same set of players couldn’t deliver them the trophy and for the same reason, RCB were in favour of releasing most of their players and retaining a couple, with Virat Kohli being at the forefront of it.

The discussion was on whether to retain captain Faf du Plessis. Under his leadership, RCB qualified for the playoffs twice out of the last three seasons and the captain himself has done a brilliant job with the bat, scoring 468, 730 and 438 runs respectively. He looked like a sure-shot retention but the team management wasn’t sure about his future, given that the former South Africa international is 40 years old.

For the same reason, RCB have released him ahead of IPL 2025. He has done a commendable job as a captain, with the bat and in the field as well but the franchise is willing to invest more in the future as retaining both Kohli and Faf, who were over 35 and for a hefty sum didn’t make much sense to them. However, it won’t be surprising if RCB decides to get him back in the IPL auction for a cheaper amount.

RCB retained Virat Kohli for INR 21 crore, Rajat Patdar for INR 11 crore and Yash Dayal for 5 crore.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) IPL 2025 Retained Player List