With this RCB group, you don’t need to be the one to step up every time: Kohli

admin — Sun, 31 May 2026 18:46:00 +0000

RCB’s Virat Kohli celebrates after hitting the winning run and securing the IPL title for the second consecutive time in the ongoing IPL 2026.
| Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji

For someone who has carried the weight of expectations season after season, Virat Kohli on Sunday (May 31, 2026) acknowledged the current RCB outfit doesn’t expect him to step up every time with multiple match-winners in its ranks.

Kohli stood tall with an unbeaten 75 after RCB bowlers set up their five-wicket win in the final of the Indian Premier League against Gujarat Titans.

Having clinched their maiden title win in the 18th year of the IPL, Kohli and RCB sealed a second consecutive victory on Sunday (May 31) for their second title.

“We’ve had to wait for so long and then just to have a group of guys where you feel like you’re stepping onto the ground, you don’t need to be the one to step up every time,” Kohli told host broadcaster.

“These guys are behind you (and) around you, who can win games of cricket for you. We have so many Man of the Match awards spread throughout the group as well.”

“You look at world-class bowling of Hoff (Josh Hazlewood), Bhuv (Bhuvneshwar Kumar), Duff (Jacob Duffy), and Krunal Pandya — you can bank on him as good as ever — Rasikh (Salam) Dar was brilliant this season,” Kohli said.

Kohli said the current group of RCB players have the balance as well as the strength.

“All the batsmen shipped in as well. I feel so happy to play in a group where we have balance, we have strength, and we are an all-around strong team and that’s why we have the confidence we have on the field right now,” he said.

Kohli said the final this year felt a lot different than last year.

“I said to a few of the boys that it doesn’t feel like the same pressure as last year, we knew what kind of ability we have in the group,” he said.

“We topped the table, there’s a reason why we got here first, and we just said one thing, ’if we stick to our cricket, if we execute our plans, we are the best team in the competition’ and there’s a reason why we’ve done well so far.”

“In the group stage, we ended up topping the league stage and just the skill sets (that) we have, the maturity, the composure of the guys just shown through again tonight and it was a clinical performance brought throughout the tournament,” Kohli said.

Kohli said RCB were tested after a short break for them in the season but a close victory over Mumbai Indians in Raipur instilled the belief back in the group.

“After the break, we had a couple of losses… I mean, one loss, and then we had a close win against MI,” he said.

“I’d say that week for us was a bit tricky because we wanted to finish top, but as soon as we got there, win against MI, the belief kicked back in, then we had a comprehensive win against KKR and then, yeah, just ended up topping the table and just on our way to the finals,” Kohli said.

Published – June 01, 2026 12:16 am IST

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IPL Retentions 2025: KL Rahul, Pant, Shreyas head to auctions, Dhoni retained by CSK

admin — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 12:57:05 +0000

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is retained, but Rishabh Pant is not. Andre Russell is retained, but Shreyas Iyer is not. Rajat Patidar is retained, K.L. Rahul is not.

The suspense over player retention ahead of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL’s) player retentions ahead of next month’s big player auction was over on Thursday (October 31, 2024) evening with the official list of retentions having been announced.

The wait is over and the retentions are !

Here are all the players retained by the teams ahead of the #TATAIPL Auction

What do you make of the retention choices pic.twitter.com/VCd0REe5Ea

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 31, 2024

In all, 46 players were retained by their respective franchises from a maximum of 60 slots available. It means that the player auction will see a maximum of 204 spots up for grab next month.

As expected – and reported by The Hindu earlier – Pant, Shreyas Iyer and K.L. Rahul were released by their respective franchises. While Heinrich Klaasen has emerged as the most expensive retention at ₹23 crore for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Virat Kohli is the most expensive Indian to be retained at ₹21 crore by Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Mumbai Indians, as reported earlier, have kept the awesome foursome –Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav – on its roster along with promising Tilak Varma.

Chennai Super Kings have decided to persist with captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Matheesha Pathirana, Dhoni and Shivam Dube. Dhoni — the veteran — and Sandeep Sharma (Rajasthan Royals) have been retained as uncapped players, thanks to a modification in uncapped player regulations.

Complete list of Retained players teamwise

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins (₹18 cr.), Abhishek Sharma (₹14 cr.), Nitish Kumar Reddy (₹6 cr.), Heinrich Klaasen (₹23 cr.), Travis Head (₹14 cr.).

Available purse: ₹45 cr.

Mumbai Indians: Jasprit Bumrah (₹18 cr.), Suryakumar Yadav (₹16.35 cr.), Hardik Pandya (₹16.35 cr.), Rohit Sharma (₹16.30 cr.), Tilak Varma (₹8 cr.).

Available purse: ₹45 cr.

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (₹18 cr.), Matheesha Pathirana (₹13 cr.), Shivam Dube (₹12 cr.), Ravindra Jadeja (₹18 cr.), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (₹4 cr.).

Available purse: ₹55 cr.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Rinku Singh (₹13 cr.), Varun Chakravarthy (₹12 cr.), Sunil Narine (₹12 cr.), Andre Russell (₹12 cr.), Harshit Rana (₹4 cr.), Ramandeep Singh (₹4 cr.).

Available purse: ₹51 cr.

Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (₹18 cr.), Yashasvi Jaiswal (₹18 cr.), Riyan Parag (₹14 cr.), Dhruv Jurel (₹14 cr.), Shimron Hetmyer (₹11 cr.), Sandeep Sharma (₹4 cr.).

Available purse: ₹41 cr.

Lucknow Super Giants: Nicholas Pooran (₹21 cr.), Ravi Bishnoi (₹11 cr.), Mayank Yadav (₹11 cr.), Mohsin Khan (₹4 cr.), Ayush Badoni (₹4 cr.).

Available purse: ₹69 cr.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli (₹21 cr.), Rajat Patidar (₹11 cr.), Yash Dayal (₹5 cr.).

Available purse: ₹83 cr.

Gujarat Titans: Rashid Khan (₹18 cr.), Shubman Gill (₹16.50 cr.), B. Sai Sudharsan (₹8.50 cr.), Rahul Tewatia (₹4 cr.), Shahrukh Khan (₹4 cr.).

Available purse: ₹69 cr.

Delhi Capitals: Axar Patel (₹16.50 cr.), Kuldeep Yadav (₹13.25 cr.), Tristan Stubbs (₹10 cr.), Abhishek Porel (₹4 cr.).

Available purse: ₹73 cr.

Punjab Kings: Shashank Singh (₹5.50 cr.), Prabhsimran Singh (₹4 cr.).

Available purse: ₹110.5 cr.

Published – October 31, 2024 06:27 pm IST

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RCB Virat Kohli – Artifex.News

With this RCB group, you don’t need to be the one to step up every time: Kohli

IPL Retentions 2025: KL Rahul, Pant, Shreyas head to auctions, Dhoni retained by CSK

Complete list of Retained players teamwise