The Royal Challengers Bengaluru buy a total of 19 players in the 2025 IPL Mega auction with the highest bids being the likes of Josh Hazlewood & the English opener Phil Salt.
RCB had gone into the auction by retaining three players Virat Kohli (INR 21 CR), the top-order batter Rajat Patidar (INR 11 CR) & the left-arm pacer Yash Dayal (INR 5 CR).
On day one of the auction, Royal Challengers Bengaluru made some impactful signings with the first being the English all-rounder Liam Livingstone for (INR 8.75 CR) and the other additions in the form of English wicket-keeper batter Phil Salt (11.50 CR) to add batting power to their batting line-up. They had a few RTM cards up their sleeve but chose not to use them for the likes of Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, or Will Jacks.
The franchise was more active on day two, with more focus on all-rounders. Spinning all-rounder Krunal Pandya was the addition to their squad with Tim David being the other addition who has represented the franchise in 2021. There were several other uncapped buys too, with Rasikh Dar headlining that category. Swapnil Singh was acquired via an RTM, and they were also quick to snap up Jacob Bethell, Nuwan Thushara, and Romario Shepherd.
Jacob Bethell who recently made his international debut is a player with an enormous ceiling and if he plays, he could provide RCB with a cavalier left-handed batting option.
Their batting arsenal, despite its obvious firepower, also seems slightly imbalanced. David, Jitesh, and Livingstone are finishers, with Kohli and Salt most definitely top-order batters. That leaves only Patidar as the bridge between the two.
RCB full squad for IPL 2025
Virat Kohli, Liam Livingstone, Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee.