After the team acquired the great batsman on Thursday, the legendary Virat Kohli wants to make sure Royal Challengers Bengaluru win the Indian Premier League at least once and put together a strong team at the auction. With RCB paying him an incredible ₹21 crore to remain in the next three-year cycle, Kohli became the second-most expensive retention ahead of the IPL 2025 big auction.
Kohli is the first player in IPL history to have played for the same side all the way through. 18 years after starting his career with RCB in 2008, Virat is still here. Despite his best efforts, RCB is still one of the three original eight teams who have never won the IPL. Kohli has played several roles for the franchise, first as a rookie player, then as captain, and finally as a legend. With just three players left from their previous team, RCB is considering a change, and Virat is keen to contribute to putting an end to the team’s title drought.
“As a franchise and as a club, I’m particularly looking forward to the opportunity to assemble a squad at this auction. as well as just anticipating this cycle. It goes without saying that winning the IPL championship at least once in the next three years is the aim. In a video that RCB released soon after making the retentions public, Virat stated, “We’re going to give it our all as always, and I’ll try to make everyone proud with the way we play our cricket.”
RCB kept only Kohli, Rajat Patidar, and Mohammed Siraj from their 25-man team from the previous season. Patidar has had a few standout seasons with RCB, amassing 395 runs from 15 games in 2024 and 333 runs from eight games in 2023. In contrast, Siraj took 34 wickets in total during the previous two seasons. It goes without saying that the team retained Kohli because he became synonymous with it and won the Orange Cap this season with a score of over 700 runs.
Virat Kohli to complete 20 years after RCB retention
With his name coming up in conversations about captaincy, Kohli is once again in the middle of things. After the IPL 2021, he relinquished his captaincy. The players that RCB is able to purchase at the auction will determine a lot. Virat will be happy to stay a player if one of Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, or KL Rahul ends up being their main attraction.
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