A new skipper for starters. Rajat Patidar will have enormous shoes to fill when he starts executing a part that is certain to come under intense scrutiny. He will have the greatest task as captain of a team with one of the most challenging home stadiums. Building the perfect bowling assault has historically been challenging on grounds with short boundaries and significant scoring potential. Since 2017, no team has had a worse home record than RCB, and their 44.12% win percentage highlights the difficulty of the task at hand.
On that front, RCB have made some picks that appear strong on paper. The experience that the likes of Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood bring to the table seems a fresh gamble. A lot will rest on how they handle the Chinnaswamy challenge for RCB’s advancement in IPL 2025.
The batting lineup now features some fresh faces with an English influence. Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone, and Jacob Bethell, all with strong T20 credentials, have been brought in, but at least two of them will likely play significant roles in the strategy RCB has used in the past. Salt at the top of the order provides powerful support for Virat Kohli, and it remains to be seen whether he can form a successful opening partnership like Faf du Plessis did. Livingstone adds power in the middle overs, along with his spin bowling, which could be useful for specific matchups. With Tim David and Romario Shepherd, the lower middle-order becomes more explosive, and Jitesh Sharma, who replaces Dinesh Karthik, has an important role ahead. While these players can fill roles previously held by successful players, their current form will be key to their impact.
Full Squad
Rajat Patidar (c), Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Jacob Bethell, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Tim David, Swastik Chikara, Krunal Pandya, Manoj Bhandage, Swapnil Singh, Mohit Rathee, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Lungi Ngidi, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Yash Dayal, Nuwan Thushara, Abhinandan Singh
A key stat to watch for RCB this season:
In the past two seasons, RCB has bowled the lowest percentage of spin overs (29.1%) and have been the most expensive team in this regard. The Chinnaswamy stadium has been the second most costly venue for spinners during this time (ER 9.24), just behind Hyderabad (9.26). With bowlers like Krunal, who has an economy rate of 7.25 at this venue, and Suyash Sharma, RCB will be aiming to improve these figures and balance the scales.
