IPL 2025 Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Strongest Playing 11

First trophy search in focus in our official squad players list and playing 11 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru for yet another time will be entering the field with the hope to get their hands on their first IPL trophy. It’s been 17 years and counting, but the team apart from reaching a few finals has never actually converted that into a trophy victory. The last time RCB played an IPL final was in 2016, and that’s almost a decade back. But can things change for them in 2025 with a revamped squad?

Well, RCB’s first headache will be to select a fresh captain keeping a long-term view in mind. RCB’s previous Captain, Faf du Plessis is no more with the team, and looking at the current squad, there are only three feasible options that RCB can explore. Either they go back to Virat Kohli, and ask him to lead for a few seasons, or they go to the experience of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, or they promote Rajat Patidar to lead the RCB in 2025, and going forward. 

It will be an interesting call that the Royal Challengers Bengaluru team will be making, but whoever they decide to make the Captain, they do have a good squad on paper to support the Captain. So, what does the overall squad for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru team list 2025 look like? Well, let’s analyze the complete players list, and find out the strengths, weaknesses, and playing 11 combination for RCB for IPL 2025. 

RCB SWOT Analysis 2025 IPL

If we were to find the strengths of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru side, their main strength is the presence of attacking batters and bowlers that are ideal for home matches at Chinnaswamy. Bengaluru, as we know has a pitch that assists quality hitting. Given the dimensions of the ground, it usually helps attacking batters, and 200+ scores are easily achievable here. Similarly, you need swing bowlers to suit these conditions. Thankfully, RCB have managed to have both these categories of players in their side.

While the team is prepared well for matches at home, RCB have a big weakness when it comes to their spin bowling. Even with a purse in excess of 80 Cr, RCB didn’t feel a need to invest in quality spinners. RCB currently have Suyash Sharma as their leading spinner, and Krunal Pandya supporting him. This is a big issue if at all there comes a situation where RCB may need more spinners in the side. 

IPL 2025 Full Official Squad and Players List for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)

Total Players: 22 // Captain: To be decided // Coach: Andy Flower // Home Ground: Bengaluru

Batters

1. Devdutt Padikkal
2. Rajat Patidar
3. Swastik Chikara
4. Tim David (f)
5. Virat Kohli

Wicket-keepers

1. Jitesh Sharma
2. Phil Salt (f)

All-rounders

1. Jacob Bethell (f)
2. Krunal Pandya
3. Liam Livingstone (f)
4. Manoj Bhandage
5. Mohit Rathee
6. Romario Shephard (f)
7. Swapnil Singh

Bowlers

1. Abhinandan Singh
2. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
3. Josh Hazlewood (f)
4. Lungi Ngidi (f)
5. Nuwan Thushara (f)
6. Rasikh Dar
7. Suyash Sharma
8. Yash Dayal

Talking about RCB’s best playing 11 for IPL 2025, we should see a new opening partner alongside Virat Kohli, and that’s Phil Salt. Salt is one of the most dangerous T20 batters in the world currently, and has already proven his credentials in IPL 2024. Having him alongside Kohli will be a treat for the fans to watch. With Salt an aggressive opener, Kohli can play his natural game of consolidating the innings.

Supporting Kohli and Salt at the top shall be Rajat Patidar, who is a strong batter himself. With a batter like Patidar at 3,  RCB have one of the best top orders in the competition. While RCB’s top 3 is solid, the batting after that is a risky bet. Be it Liam Livingstone, Tim David, or Jitesh Sharma, all these batters are naturally aggressive, and their performance can go either way. But on paper, these are potent batters that can come out good for sure. 

Talking about lower-order and all-rounders, RCB have Krunal Pandya and Rasikh Dar. Both Krunal and Rasikh are decent batters, and will be ideal for number 7 and 8 positions. In addition, Krunal will play a key role as the spinner, and Rasikh as a pacer. So, aside from their batting, RCB will need these two along with Livingstone to provide 4-6 overs between them. 

Finally, talking about the primary bowlers, RCB have a strong pace unit with Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar leading the bowling with support from Yash Dayal. With these three pacers there, RCB will mostly see Suyash Sharma as the leading spinner. With four primary bowlers in the side, RCB will also depend on 3 all-rounders, Livingstone, Krunal, and Rasikh for 4-6 overs between them. 

RCB Playing 11 for IPL 2025

1. Phil Salt
2. Virat Kohli
3. Rajat Patidar
4. Liam Livingstone
5. Tim David
6. Jitesh Sharma (wk)
7. Krunal Pandya
8. Rasikh Dar
9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
10. Josh Hazlewood
11. Yash Dayal
12. Suyash Sharma (Impact Substitute)

So, that’s about the best possible playing 11 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for IPL 2025. Overall, RCB have a well-balanced squad that is well-suited for the Chhinaswamy pitch. However, the team lacks quality spin bowling given that Krunal and Suyash are the only two good names in the side. So, aside from matches on spin-friendly pitches, RCB are sorted, and it will be a good tournament for them overall.  

© Cricgasm Cricket Articles