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The Royal Challengers Bengaluru team, which is still waiting for its maiden IPL trophy, will open its campaign in the IPL 2025 on Saturday (March 22) against KKR at Eden Gardens.
RCB will face KKR in IPL 2025 opener on March 22. (Picture Credit: X/@RCBTweets)
Legendary South African batter and former captain Ab de Villiers is not concerned with an absence of a quality spinner in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s squad for the upcoming 2025 season of the Indian Premier League. According to ABD, who played in the IPL for RCB from 2011 to 2021, RCB has an incredibly good and balanced team for the new season, and if they manage to keep Australian speedster Josh Hazlewood fit, then they will do well.
RCB signed Hazlewood for Rs 12.50 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction, but the 34-year-old pacer hasn’t played a competitive match since taking the field against India during the third Test in Brisbane last December. He has travelled to India on Monday (March 17) to join the RCB squad ahead of the start of IPL 2025, but it remains to be seen if he is fully fit to feature in the playing XI.
While replying to a question asked by CricketNext about RCB’s team combination and lack of a quality spinner on Star Sports Press Room on Explosive Rankings on Tuesday, JioStar TATA IPL experts AB de Villiers said, “They (RCB) really made some good moves in the auction, as they have an incredibly good balanced team. The scheduling is going to be a bigger obstacle than the spinner they are lacking. They are lacking an x-factor spinner. Krunal Pandya is a wonderful spinner. We have seen him over the years perform very consistently, and he can chip in with the bat as well.”
“They have some other options as well, but what I like about this team the most is the balance they have, and that will boast well for them, especially with the scheduling where they hop around to different venues all the time right throughout the tournament. They have got the trickiest schedule of them all,” he added.
According to de Villiers, who retired from competitive cricket without winning an IPL trophy despite playing 14 seasons, RCB’s batting line-up is a mix of power and control, and batting superstar Virat Kohli will really enjoy batting with England wicketkeeper Phil Salt, who is set to open for RCB in the IPL 2025 after joining them for Rs 11.50 crore in the mega auction last year.
“Look at that batting lineup. It is pure power. There is a mix between power and also control. I think Virat is really going to enjoy batting with Phil Salt. And the bowling department, Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar) Kumar’s experience, I think that’s going to be great for them. As long as we can keep Josh Hazlewood fit throughout the season, I think RCB will have a great season. I am not too concerned about the mystery spinner lacking. It would have been nice, but we have seen teams win tournaments before without that outright mystery spinner.”
“So, all in all, I think they (RCB team management) did a great job, and I like the fact that Rajat Patidar is captain and Virat seems to be happy with that, supporting him, and I feel it’s going to really boost Patidar’s performance throughout this tournament,” he added.
