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The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) squad and Virat Kohli received their first-ever championship title after they accomplished their two-decade-long goal of winning the IPL 2025 title. The RCB team defeated the Punjab Kings in an exciting championship match at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium under the leadership of their new captain Rajat Patidar.

The franchise took its time before appointing Patidar as captain. The team director Mo Bobat explained during a recent podcast that the management process to evaluate all available options taken by them before making their choice. Bobat confirmed that Kohli will retire from professional sports after IPL 2026 because he will turn 37 on that date.

Bobat explained that IPL 2024 had been completed when management decided to give Kohli his captaincy position back. After Faf du Plessis stepped down from his captaincy role he, head coach Andy Flower and Kohli held a meeting in London to explore their options.

Mo Bobat said: "Andy and I met him in London not long after the 2024 season and talked about that. He's always ready to step forward and lead. He doesn't need a second invitation. But we spoke about how this decision is not just about us three as people. It's about RCB more broadly as a franchise. Its leadership maybe even beyond us. The easy thing would have been to say, 'Virat, do you mind filling in and doing captaincy?' But then you're just kicking a decision down the road. At some point we can't be dependent on Virat all the time."

Bobat stated that the team should not bring back Kohli as their captain because his age would not support RCB's long-term strategies and the team needed to develop its future plans.

Now the entire RCB team which includes captain Rajat Patidar and senior player Virat Kohli has begun preparing for their upcoming IPL 2026 tournament. The defending champion franchise made effective player retention decisions and auction selections to build a stronger team for their upcoming tournament.

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Bobat also added:  “Virat's a bright guy. He got it really quickly. He said, 'Let's think about some of these other individuals. But if you need someone, then obviously I can do it'. We spent a lot of time thinking about that captaincy decision. I don't mind saying in my career there aren't that many decisions that I've thought about as long and as deeply as that one. And the thinking started in the season before.”

The Royal Challengers Bangalore team maintained their contract with Krunal Pandya Tim David Romario Shepherd Jacob Bethell and Josh Hazlewood together with Patidar and Kohli. The team acquired England batter Jordan Cox and two rising Indian stars Vicky Ostwal and Vihaan Malhotra during the IPL 2026 auction held in December to strengthen their roster.

Rajat Patidar, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Dar, Abhinandan Singh, Suyash Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Duffy, Mangesh Yadav, Satvik Deswal, Jordan Cox, Vicky Ostwal, Kanishk Chouhan and Vihaan Malhotra.