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The 18th edition of the Indian Premier League is almost here and all ten franchises are grueling hard in the nets to get their hands on the coveted title this year. While the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be entering the season as defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru along with several franchises will eye to get hands on their maiden title.
Amid this, South African batting great, AB de Villiers has shared a piece of advice for the Bengaluru-based franchise. With the franchise taking the field with some new faces this season, De Villiers wants Virat Kohli to play smart in order to control the game. His statement comes after Virat Kohli’s strike rate has been a talking point from past two seasons.
Virat needs to continue what he's been doing for so many years: AB de Villiers ahead of IPL 2025
Speaking on JioStar Press Room on Tuesday, March 18, AB de Villiers said, “Virat seems to be enjoying his cricket. I don’t think he’s going to have to up his strike rate batting with Phil Salt.” “Virat needs to continue what he's been doing for so many years...control the game, play smart cricket. He's got the best instinct of any player out there. He knows when to up the ante a bit and when to lower it,” he continued.
Furthermore, the former Protean batter added, “Virat needs to be the captain of the batting department in this tournament and really just keep things together, play smart cricket to make sure they don’t find those collapses in the batting order.”
Notably, RCB will kickstart their season on Saturday, March 22 when they take on defending champions KKR at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The Rajat Patidar-led side will then travel to Chennai to take on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on March 28 before returning to their home for a clash against Gujarat Titans on April 2.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL 2025 squad
Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Jacob Bethell, Manoj Bhandage, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee.
