Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) had a pretty good round in the IPL 2025 auction, bringing in key players to add to their strong retentions of Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Yash Dayal.

However, a section of fans seem unhappy with RCB’s purchases in the IPL 2025 auction and that despite having a substantial purse, they chose to avoid bidding aggressively for prominent Indian batsmen.

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This decision has sparked debates, especially since high-profile Indian players like Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul were available this time. RCB was strongly expected to make big efforts for Rahul but raised Rs 10.5 crore for the Indian star.

Former Test opener and Team India cricket commentator Aakash Chopra added fuel to the conversation by openly questioning RCB’s auction strategy on his social media channel.

He noted that while it is often difficult to get top Indian batsmen at auctions, this year offered a unique opportunity with players like Pant, Rahul, Iyer and Kishan available. However, RCB neither made a concerted effort to sign them nor used their resources effectively to address this gap.

Missed opportunities for RCB?

RCB made a bid for Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul but he pulled out early. Pant was sacked after just Rs 11 crore, while Rahul was chased up to Rs 10.5 crore before RCB pulled out, allowing them to sell him for Rs 14 crore.

Considering their financial flexibility, these offers seemed cautious at best. Players like Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, who many believe could have strengthened the middle-order, were not even considered. They finally added Devdutt Padikkal late to their roster in the fast-paced round, but the left-hander does not qualify as an elite Indian T20 player.

Chopra criticized RCB’s reluctance, pointing out their long-standing problem of relying heavily on Virat Kohli without a strong Indian counterpart in the batting line-up. He suggested that investing in a marquee mass, even at a high price, could have paid dividends. However, there was also an undertone in his post that RCB deliberately avoided India’s leading batsmen to prevent attention shifting away from Kohli, who is a fan favourite.

“One thing #RCB never wants to change. There is no high-profile Indian batsman in the team except Virat. Many times you can’t get any at auction and that’s understandable… but this time they had 4 options to choose from. Pant, Shreyas Iyer, KLR and Ishan. And I had the money to buy 1. But they didn’t,” Chopra’s tweet read.

RCB makes key additions in IPL 2025 auction

While their reluctance to bid for Indian stars drew criticism, RCB made notable signings during the two-day auction held in Jeddah. Josh Hazlewood (Rs 12.5 million), Phil Salt (Rs 11.5 million), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Rs 10.75 million), Jitesh Sharma (Rs 11 million) and Liam Livingstone (Rs 8.75 million). rupees) are among its high-profile acquisitions.

Taking a slightly different approach than usual, this time RCB has put together a pretty good team in the IPL auction. There are also rumors that Kohli will return as captain and the fact that they have not signed any notable players from India suggests that the King could return to take over the captaincy.

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RCB Team 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 Untilhara, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chikara, Mohit Rathee, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh.