It’s the 18th season of the Indian Premier Premier league. For Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who are yet to win an IPL title despite having some of the biggest names in world cricket over the years, the number has a connection that is, perhaps, rivalled only by Chennai Super Kings’ love for number 7.
For, 18 is the jersey number of India’s star batter and RCB’s icon, Virat Kohli, who has been with the franchise since the inception of the IPL in 2008. And the franchise would like nothing better to make the fans’ chant ‘E sala cup namde’ (this year, the trophy is ours) come true this season and dedicate the trophy to the 36-year-old.
RCB raised hopes spectacularly last season by winning six consecutive matches after a string of losses, to qualify for the playoffs. But, they lost to the Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator by four wickets, to extend their wait for the title.
IPL 2025: Five RCB players to watch out for this season
Virat Kohli
Having been retained by the RCB for ₹21 crore, Kohli would be motivated to leave no stones unturned to win the elusive title. He was the top run-getter last season, with 741 runs in 15 matches, and also leads the overall batting charts in IPL history with 8,004 runs. With no burden of captaincy, Kohli would hoping to let his bat do the talking again. His strike-rate (154.69) and average (61.75) last season were a massive improvement if one looks at his overall IPL strike-rate and average of 131.97 and 38.66 respectively. Kohli is also a key member of the core decision-making group.
Rajat Patidar
It would be a dream debut for the newly appointed RCB skipper if he can lead the team to its maiden IPL trophy. Patidar, who was retained for ₹11 crore, has been with the franchise since 2021 – IPL 2022 was his best season, scoring 333 runs in just eight matches.
The 31-year-old has led Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (T20) and Vijay Hazare Trophy (ODI). In 27 IPL matches so far, he has amassed 799 runs at an average of 34.73 and a strike rate of 158.84.
Jacob Bethell
The 21-year-old promising England batting all-rounder missed the Champions Trophy because of a left hamstring strain sustained during the ODI series against India. But, Bethell’s return is good news for RCB, because of his slow left-arm spin, big-hitting abilities and brilliant fielding.
In 10 T20Is so far, he has scored 196 runs in nine innings at an average of 32.66 and a strike rate of 147.36, with two half-centuries. It will be his debut IPL season.
Josh Hazlewood
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The Aussie pacer was sidelined during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and missed the Champions Trophy because of a calf injury. Having missed the last season, the 34-year-old’s return will boost RCB’s pace department. He would be hoping to reproduce his IPL 2022 form, when he took 20 wickets in 12 matches in his debut season for the Benguluru franchise. He has 35 wickets overall in 27 matches at an economy of 8.05 in the tournament so far.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
The 35-year-old India pacer was with the Sunrisers Hyderabad since 2014, before being bought by the RCB for ₹10.75 crore for IPL 2025, to lend stability to their pace department, along side Hazlewood. He may have fallen down the pecking order in the Team India setup, but his wealth of experience in the IPL will come in handy for the RCB to realise their dreams of a maiden title. He has played 176 matches in the tournament history, picking up 181 wickets, at an impressive economy of 7.56.