“Because Of Virat Kohli”- Aakash Chopra’s Wild Theory On RCB Missing Out On Marquee Batters In IPL 2025 Mega Auction

Aakash Chopra, the former India cricketer, questioned Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) strategy at the IPL 2025 auction and referenced Virat Kohli as one of the reasons for their poor outing.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) had a reasonably successful round in the IPL 2025 auction, bringing in vital players to supplement their strong roster of Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, and Yash Dayal.

However, several supporters were dissatisfied with RCB’s buying at the IPL 2025 auction, claiming that despite having a large purse, they chose to forego bidding aggressively for famous Indian batters.

This choice has aroused discussion, particularly because prominent Indian players such as Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul were available at the time. RCB were anticipated to spend a lot of money on Rahul, but they settled for 10.5 crores.

Aakash Chopra fueled the debate by openly challenging RCB’s auction approach on his social media platform.  He said that, while it is sometimes tough to obtain elite Indian batters at auctions, this year provided a unique chance with players such as Pant, Rahul, Iyer, and Kishan available.

However, RCB did not make a determined effort to sign them, nor did they use their resources efficiently to close the deficit.

RCB bid for Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul but withdrew early. Pant was let go for only ₹11 crore, but Rahul was pursued up to ₹10.5 crore before RCB pulled out, allowing him to be sold for ₹14 crore.

Aakash Chopra feels RCB let go of high-profile batters because of Virat Kohli

Given their financial flexibility, these bids appeared conservative, at best. Players like Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, who many believe could have improved the middle order, were not even considered.  They eventually added Devdutt Padikkal to their team in the expedited round, although the left-hander did not meet the criteria for a top Indian T20 player.

Chopra chastised RCB’s hesitancy, pointing out their long-standing problem of relying largely on Virat Kohli in the absence of a strong Indian counterpart in the batting order.

He claimed that investing in one marquee batter, even at a hefty cost, could have yielded returns.

However, there was an undertone in his statement that RCB purposefully avoided prominent Indian batters to keep the attention on Virat Kohli, the franchise’s fan favorite and face.

“One thing #RCB does not want to change ever. No high-profile Indian batter in the team except Virat. Often you can’t get any in the auction and that’s understandable…but this time they had 4 options to choose from. Pant, Shreyas Iyer, KLR and Ishan. And had the money to buy 1. But they didn’t,” Chopra’s tweet read.

RCB did make notable signings during the two-day auction held in Jeddah picking Josh Hazlewood (₹12.5 crore), Phil Salt (₹11.5 crore), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (₹10.75 crore), Jitesh Sharma (₹11 crore), and Liam Livingstone (₹8.75 crore).

RCB Squad for IPL 2025: Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal, Liam Livingstone, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Salam Dar, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chikara, Mohit Rathee, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh.

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