IPL 2025: Is Virat Kohli RCB's misfortune? Harbhajan Singh's no-nonsense verdict

Legendary India spinner Harbhajan Singh has opened up on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the team's challenge ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. Harbhajan also revealed the reason behind RCB's inability to win an IPL trophy so far.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru is one of the four teams remaining in the Indian Premier League not to win a title so far. The team has probably one of the largest fan bases among all the teams but is still searching for its maiden IPL title.

Historically, RCB has had a strong batting line-up with the likes of Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, T Dilshan, and many more world-class international batters having represented the side. But the team's bowling has let them down over the years.

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Harbhajan Singh reveals why RCB has been unable to win an IPL trophy

Recently, Harbhajan Singh reflected on RCB's performance in the recent season and claimed that he had high expectations from them.

RCB were at the last spot in IPL 2024 during the mid-stage but made a spirited comeback to win six matches in a row and qualify for the playoffs. Unfortunately, they lost the eliminator match to Rajasthan Royals.

"I had high expectations from them last year. They started playing well in the latter part. The momentum was with them and I felt they had a great chance to go for it. The way they played against CSK in a crucial game in Bangalore was outstanding. But somehow, when it mattered the most, they went on to lose, Harbhajan said.

The former India offspinner claimed that the team's weak bowling was the main reason for their inability to win the IPL.

He claimed that the team released Yuzvendra Chahal despite the bowler performing well for them and being the standout performer. He also feels that RCB needs one or two bowlers to support Mohammed Siraj in the bowling line-up.

"They have to do something, get their bowling stronger. Their batting has always been very good. They always score runs. But the problem is they concede the most no. of runs as well. According to me, they need to get their bowling stronger. They have just one or two bowlers and you can't win tournaments through just one or two bowlers," Harbhajan reckoned.

"They had Yuzi (Yuzvendra Chahal). He is a brilliant bowler. How did you let go of a bowler like Yuzi? They have (Mohammed) Siraj as well. He wasn't going through his purple patch this IPL but he picked up his form later and started doing well.

"But you need more people to bowl with him. You cannot have a top-heavy batting and nothing after that. I think this is the biggest reason (for RCB's inability to win IPL). It's always been the same story," he added.

RCB KYUN NAHI JEET PAATI TROPHY, KYA VIRAT KOHLI HAI BADI WAJAH ? HARBHAJAN SINGH EXCLUSIVE#ViratKohli #Harbhajansingh #sportsyaari pic.twitter.com/lgLh7Wt96u

— Sports Yaari (@YaariSports) October 2, 2024

Harbhajan Singh on Virat Kohli's captaincy

While speaking on Virat Kohli's leadership, Harbhajan Singh stated that a captain is as good as his team.

He feels that Kohli's inability to win a trophy as a captain goes down to the fact that he did not have a great team at his disposal. The 44-year-old stressed the importance of picking the right players at the auction.

"A captain is as good as a team. For example, we say that Dhoni is a very good captain but you see his team as well. He plans well because he has the players who can execute well. In Virat's case, it might be that he is planning well but he doesn't have the bowlers or a No. 7 batter to execute his plan.

"They need to pick the right players in the auction. If you pick a good team, then you can plan well accordingly. But I think that the captaincy depends on the team," Harbhajan concluded.

Big chance for RCB in a mega auction

The IPL 2025 mega auction will be a huge chance for RCB to make a solid team for the upcoming years. While they are expected to retain Virat Kohli, the retentions of other players are not finalized yet.

It will be interesting to see how they cover up for their weak bowling resources to complement their strong batting order. They will have another decision to make as they are looking for a captain.

Faf du Plessis, RCB's regular captain is not expected to be retained as he is already in the last years of his career. With Kohli having given up the captaincy, the team will be looking at a younger option who can serve the team in the future.