Will Virat Kohli captain RCB? Mo Bobat explains reason behind snubbing Faf

RCB's Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat, opened up about the team's captaincy prospects following their decision to part ways with Faf du Plessis while announcing their retentions ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.

In Short

• RCB let go-off their captain Faf du Plessis ahead of IPL 2025
• The franchise retains 3 players ahead of mega auction
• Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Yash Dayal become their top retentions

RCB's Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat, opened up about the team's captaincy prospects following their decision to part ways with Faf du Plessis while announcing their retentions ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. There have been reports suggesting that veteran player Virat Kohli might return to the captaincy for IPL 2025. However, Bobat refrained from confirming anything at this stage, stating that the franchise has not made any decisions yet. As part of their IPL 2025 retention plan, RCB retained three players: Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, and Yash Dayal.

"As for the captaincy, there are many rumours, but we haven't made any decisions yet. The only clear decision we've made is not to retain Faf, who has been a great leader. We're grateful for his contributions, but he will go to the auction. We are keeping an open mind about captaincy and will consider it a key aspect of our auction planning," Mo Bobat told Jio Cinema.

IPL 2025 retention: Live updates

Why Faf was not retained by RCB?

Faf led the franchise after Kohli stepped down from the captaincy after the 2021 season, ending his 9-year tenure at the helm of affairs of the franchise. However, the franchise failed to lift the trophy as they managed to qualify for the play-offs twice in Faf's 3-year tenure. However, with age not being at Faf's side, who is 40, the management would have made the bold call to move on.

Mo Bobat focused on RCB wanting to retain their Indian core with Kohli being a no-brainer for Rs 21 crore. Meanwhile, Rajat and Dayal would get 11 crore and 5 crore, respectively, in the three-year cycle.

"For us, prioritizing a strong Indian core during the auction phase is crucial, and our retention reflects that decision. Retaining our players was a straightforward choice, especially given their performance last year," he added.

"Rajat and Yash are two high-quality players who demonstrated their capabilities last season. Rajat has a unique ability to attack spin and play aggressively, while Yash impressed us with the new ball bowler capable of swinging it both ways and performing well under pressure. Retaining them was an obvious choice."

"Not retaining Siraj was our toughest decision"

He also revealed why Mohammed Siraj, who has been leading RCB's bowling attack was not retained by the franchise.

"Regarding Mohammed Siraj, not retaining him was our toughest decision. We value his contributions, having been a strong performer for RCB and India over the years. However, we wanted to enter the auction with as many options open as possible, especially to build a balanced bowling attack capable of competing effectively in the IPL and other formats," Mo Bobat said.