Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
England all-rounder Liam Livingstone opened up after finding a new franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on November 24 and 25. The England all-rounder, who was released by Punjab Kings ahead of the mega auction, was roped in by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for INR 8.75 Crore in a bidding war involving three more franchises.
Speaking for the first time after being signed by RCB ahead of IPL 2025, Liam Livingstone took a blunt take on his experience with Punjab Kings. The English all-rounder clearly stated that he looks forward to putting up a show in Bengaluru, reflecting on his past performance with Punjab.
Bangalore is certainly better than Punjab: Liam Livingstone ahead of IPL 2025
Livingstone in his interaction with Reuters stated that he is expecting to give a better performance in Bengaluru than Punjab. “The fan base is very passionate. It’s probably one of the biggest franchises in IPL… It’s a bit of a fresh start for me,” Livingstone told Reuters.
“I think Bangalore is going to be very good for my game. It’s a little bit smaller than some of the stadiums in India, certainly better than what Punjab was for me. Hopefully, my game should suit that place well,” he further added. The 31-year-old also spoke of the team he’ll be playing alongside after the franchise signed Josh Hazlewood, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, etc in the mega auction. “I think we had a really good auction. We’ve got some good players, we picked up quite cleverly,” he added. Furthermore, the England batter also expressed his excitement to play alongside Virat Kohli, adding, “There’s a few people in that team I know really well, so I’m pretty excited to get out there as a group. Playing with Virat is going to be really cool.”
It is to be noted that Livingstone had a topsy-turvy season with PBKS. In the three season, Livingstone scored 437, 279 and 111 runs respectively. In IPL 2024, he appeared in seven matches for Punjab, where he scored 111 runs at an average of 22.20 and strike rate of 142.30.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL 2025 Full Squad
Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Jacob Bethell, Manoj Bhandage, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee.
