Courtesy: RCB/IPL
The 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to begin on Saturday, March 22, with the opening match between defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), at the Eden Gardens. Over the course of their history, RCB have made the final of the IPL on three separate occasions, but they weren’t able to put their hands on the trophy in 2009, 2011, and 2016.
RCB are known to be one of the most popular franchises in IPL, thanks mainly to the loyalty from the former Indian captain, Virat Kohli, who has been with the franchise since the inception of the IPL in 2008. Although, even with his presence in the team, RCB haven’t been able to capitalise on their chances to win the silverware in men’s cricket over the past 17 years.
But regardless, the RCB fans have always been one of the most vocal sets of supporters, and they will be hoping for a change of fortunes in the upcoming 2025 season. In this article, SportsTiger looks at three reasons why RCB can win the IPL 2025, and end their trophy drought in men’s cricket.
3 Reasons why RCB can win IPL 2025
Virat Kohli’s consistency at top of the order
Virat Kohli is widely regarded as one of the greatest batters of all-time, and he has been able to showcase the best of his batting ability as a player of RCB throughout their history. During his IPL career, in over 250 matches, Virat Kohli became the first player in tournament’s history to go past 8,000 runs, and his good batting form is directly proportional to RCB’s fortunes in the IPL, and it isn’t expected to be any different in the 2025 season.
Experience of new recruits shining through
During the IPL 2025 mega auction, RCB recruited a whopping 19 players with a great blend of youth and experience, and the team management will be hoping for the top players like Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone, Krunal Pandya, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to hit the ground running from the get-go. The likes of Pandya and Kumar will be very important for the RCB in terms of shoring-up their bowling, which has often been a massive let down for them in the IPL history, costing them a couple of titles.
Rajat Patidar replicating captaincy heroics
Rajat Patidar, 31, was given the chance to captain RCB after the departure of former skipper Faf du Plessis, and the team management is expecting big things from him after he single-handedly took his state team Madhya Pradesh to the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024-25 season a couple of years ago. Despite losing the final to Mumbai, Rajat Patidar must have gained a lot of learnings from his tenure as the captain of Madhya Pradesh, which could come in really handy in crunch situations as the leader of RCB in the upcoming IPL 2025 season.
