'AB de Villiers drops hint of Virat Kohli returning as RCB skipper for IPL 2025'

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have confirmed their 22-member squad for the upcoming 2025 Indian Premier League after a two-day auction. However, the captaincy situation still remains uncertain. Speculation is rife that Virat Kohli, who led the team for many seasons before relinquishing the captaincy in 2021, may make a comeback as the skipper.

Former RCB batter and one of the legends of the game, AB de Villiers, seemed to hint that Kohli "will lead" the side in the 2025 season. Under Kohli, RCB reached the final of 2016 IPL, which was also the last time the side had reached the title clash.

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transform: rotate(32deg); animation: shinerMooving 3s infinite; z-index: 1; filter: blur(1px); } @keyframes shinerMooving { 0% { left: -40px; } 100% { left: 150%; } } Top 15 buys at IPL 2025 Auction Rishabh Pant ₹ 27 Cr DC LSG Total Match 111 Total Runs 3284 Highest Score 128 runs Shreyas Iyer ₹ 26.75 Cr KKR PBKS Total Match 115 Total Runs 3127 Highest Score 96 runs Venkatesh Iyer ₹ 23.75 Cr KKR KKR Total Match 50 Total Runs 1326 Highest Score 104 runs Wickets 3 Best Bowling 2/29 Arshdeep Singh ₹ 18 Cr PBKS PBKS Total Match 65 Total Runs 29 Highest Score 10 runs Wickets 76 Best Bowling 5/32 Yuzvendra Chahal ₹ 18 Cr RR PBKS Total Match 260 Total Runs 37 Highest Score 8 runs Wickets 205 Best Bowling 5/40 Jos Buttler ₹ 15.75 Cr RR GT Total Match 107 Total Runs 3582 Highest Score 124 runs KL Rahul ₹ 14 Cr LSG DC Total Match 132 Total Runs 4683 Highest Score 132 runs Trent Boult ₹ 12.50 Cr RR MI Total Match 104 Total Runs 83 Highest Score 17 runs Wickets 121 Best Bowling 4/18 Jofra Archer ₹ 12.50 Cr MI RR Total Match 35 Total Runs 195 Highest Score 27 runs Wickets 46 Best Bowling 3/15 Josh Hazlewood ₹ 12.50 Cr RCB RCB Total Match 12 Total Runs - Highest Score - Wickets 12 Best Bowling 3/24 Mohammed Siraj ₹ 12.25 Cr RCB GT Total Match 93 Total Runs 109 Highest Score 14 runs Wickets 93 Best Bowling 4/21 Mitchell Starc ₹ 11.75 Cr KKR DC Total Match 41 Total Runs 105 Highest Score 29 runs Wickets 51 Best Bowling 4/15 Phil Salt ₹ 11.50 Cr DC RCB Total Match 21 Total Runs 653 Highest Score 89 runs Ishan Kishan ₹ 11.25 Cr MI SRH Total Match 105 Total Runs 2644 Highest Score 99 runs Wickets - Best Bowling - Jitesh Sharma ₹ 11 Cr PBKS RCB Total Match 40 Total Runs 730 Highest Score 49 runs Check Full Coverage

"I don't think it has been confirmed yet, but he will be the captain, I think, looking at the squad" de Villiers said on his official YouTube channel.

Among the auction picks, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is another senior India player who has captained in the IPL; however, the pacer has only undertaken interim duties at Sunrisers Hyderabad. Krunal Pandya, another one of RCB's auction buys, also leads the Baroda side in domestic cricket, but has no experience in leading an IPL team.

De Villiers happy with RCB's squad

AB de Villiers was happy with RCB's squad, though, and particularly the pace attack that the side formed throughout the auction.

"We got Bhuvneshwar Kumar, happy with Josh Hazlewood. We did miss out on a couple here and there. Rabada was close, but at least we got Lungi Ngidi. He's got a wonderful slower ball, if he is in form and fit, he is a force to be reckoned with," said the former Proteas captain.

"We missed out on Ravichandran Ashwin. CSK got him, but very happy to see him in the yellow jersey again. But all in all, I'm fairly happy. It's a well-balanced squad, we are missing a match-winning spinner but hopefully we are able to balance the squad in such a manner that we make Chinnaswamy a fortress. This squad should work at Chinnaswamy."

Weakness in RCB squad

De Villiers did, however, point out that the side is missing a spinner who could turn the ball both ways, insisting that RCB might miss a spinner, particularly during the home games. He suggested the franchise might rope in a spinner from the unsold players list. If that doesn't happen, de Villiers suggested BCCI to have a mid-season transfer window.

"On the road, I feel we might miss out on someone who turns both ways. We need it, and I feel we are lacking it a little bit. It reminds me a touch about the transfer window some time in the future. I wish the IPL and the BCCI will bring out a transfer window, where half-way through the tournament, we could make transfers. You can possibly get an extra spinner into the squad, a wrist spinner, perhaps, or you could go back to the unsold list. It's something to think about," said the South African great.

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