This report comes after several former India cricketers urged the star India batter to play domestic cricket in order to regain his form in Tests. Even head coach Gautam Gambhir also hinted that not only Virat but Rohit should also play domestic cricket since he also needs to drastically improve his form in the longest format.

If RCB reaches the final of the IPL which will be played on May 25, then Kohli will have roughly 14 days to play county cricket and get suitable with the English conditions before the 5-match Test series against The Three Lions commences.

Preparing for the swinging conditions in England will not be an easy task and Kohli himself knows that. The India batter has struggled in the past few Test series in England and the same would happen in the upcoming tour as well if he doesn’t take strict measures to improve his form.

Kohli had a brilliant start to the Border-Gavaskar series, slamming a century in the first Test held in Perth. However, his form dipped in the very next match and didn’t show much improvements in the remaining 3 Tests as well.

The 36-year-old will be looking to put the failures in Australia tour behind him and a stint in County Cricket can turn out to be very helpful for him in regaining his form. Spending time in English conditions would allow Kohli to sharpen his skills and also regain his confidence.

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Kohli is currently facing a lot of criticism from cricket experts and fans after he failed to perform in the five Test matches against Australia. He set off the series with an unbeaten century, but failed to keep that momentum. He ended the series with just 190 runs. Faf also spoke about Kohli’s retirement, stating that bidding farewell from the sport is a very personal choice.

“That is very, very personal. No one can speak to you about when that time is (up) as a player, you’ll know,” du Plessis told PTI on the sidelines of the SA20 Season 3’s Captain’s Day.

“I know someone like him is super super motivated, he’s gone through it all before, so he knows exactly what to do,” he added.

After he failed to perform well in the five-match Test series against Australia, the star batter will most likely appear for India in he upcoming three-match ODI series against England, set to begin February 6. This will be last ODI series for India before the 2025 edition of Champions Trophy.

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However, Gaikwad gave a glimpse of his humour by suggesting “Might be someone from RCB”. A video of the exchange also made rounds on social media.

Gaikwad is set to lead Maharashtra in the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy which is set to commence from December 21. He also led the side during the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy where he wasn’t really able to perform well, scoring just 193 runs in 5 group games.

Earlier, Gaikwad was retained by CSK for the 2025 IPL season for a whopping fee of INR 18 crore.

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A total of 4 franchises entered the bidding war for Livingstone in the auction but it was RCB who eventually ended up acquiring the player’s services.

After completing his move to the Bengaluru-based franchise, Livingstone gave a rather blunt statement and said that he expects to perform better for RCB than what he did for PBKS.

“The fan base is very passionate. It’s probably one of the biggest franchises in IPL… It’s a bit of a fresh start for me,” Livingstone told Reuters.

“I think Bangalore is going to be very good for my game. It’s a little bit smaller than some of the stadiums in India, certainly better than what Punjab was for me. Hopefully, my game should suit that place well,” Livingstone added.

The all-rounder also praised RCB’s work at the auction and added that he can’t wait to play alongside the likes of Virat Kohli.

“I think we had a really good auction. We’ve got some good players, we picked up quite cleverly. There’s a few people in that team I know really well, so I’m pretty excited to get out there as a group. Playing with the likes of Virat is going to be really cool,” Livingstone said.

The post “Better than Punjab…”: England star gives HUGE statement after switching from PBKS to RCB appeared first on Cricket Country.

With the move, the 7-year relationship between Siraj and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) came to an end. RCB opted to not use their Right-to-Match (RTM) card for the pacer, a move which raised many eyebrows.

Following the auction, Siraj shared an emotional note for his former franchise on his official Instagram account, thanking them and bidding them adieu.

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A post shared by Mohammed Siraj (@mohammedsirajofficial)

However, the emotional post became quite hilarious after fans figured out that Afghanistan and GT spinner Rashid Khan has made a comment on Siraj’s post. Rashid’s message read, ab tu hamara huaaaaa (Now you are ours).”

GT acquired the services of the pacer after going through a fierce bidding war with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR). Siraj is the second-msot expensive player that the Gujrat-based franchise bought at the auction behind Jos Buttler, who was sold for INR 15.75 crore.

The post “Ab tu hamaara hua”: Rashid Khan welcomes Mohammed Siraj to Gujarat Titans with hilarious message appeared first on Cricket Country.

The franchise retained Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, and Yash Dayal. They also had 3 Right-to-Match (RTM) cards remaining, but only used 1 of the card for Swapnil Singh.

Kaif shared his views on their decision to le Will Jacks go to Mumbai Indians. After RCB refused to use the RTM card on him, Aakash Ambani went to shake hands with the CEO of RCB.

“Jacks saved their honour last year. RCB came in the top four because of him. I remember two matches. He helped RCB beat SRH (SunRisers Hyderabad) in Hyderabad with his bowling and scored a hundred against GT (Gujarat Titans) in Ahmedabad off 40 balls. So Will Jacks won them two matches on his own and they didn’t take him,” he said.

“RCB said they don’t want good players. They let (Rishabh) Pant and KL (Rahul) go, and he (Jacks) played well for them. It’s not easy for any batter to score a hundred. The RCB fans will be extremely disappointed. We have seen from yesterday (Day 1) that RCB’s auction planning was bad, and today (Day 2) they went from bad to worse. I believe not taking Jacks is a massive miss,” Kaif added.

The post ‘Don’t want good players…’: Ex-Royal Challengers Bengaluru star Lashes at the franchise for their choices in 2025 Auction appeared first on Cricket Country.

Hazlewood, who was last part of the RCB squad in 2021, will once again the leading the pacers in the upcoming IPL season. After securing his services, RCB’s batting coach Dinesh Karthik acknowledged the importance of Hazlewood to the team.

“Everybody from RCB and and all the fans have all said let’s go for Josh Hazlewood and here we have him. Josh Hazlewood, it was all about who can we get and we got Josh Hazlewood. I think all Bengaluru should be smiling at that option because we have seen what he can do in the year that he came, we qualified and he was such a major and integral part of that attack,” Karthik said.

RCB’s other buys of the first day included England all-rounder Liam Livingstone for INR 8.75 crore, young Indian wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma for INR 11 crore and explosive England batter Phil Salt for INR 11.5 crore. Karthik was excited about signing Jitesh and Salt for their explosive batting styles.

”He (Jitesh) is a very explosive middle -order batsman. We wanted someone who is on the fringes of the Indian team and he is right there. We have seen what he can do in the IPL. Has got areas that he can hit and RCB being a ground where you can play spin well, he comes as a very, very good option,” Karthik said about Jitesh.

“Phil Salt, what have I got to say? He is explosive. He is someone who can take on in the power play. Great attitude. Nice guy to have around in the team. Everything about him says he is the kind of guy that RCB would love to have,” Karthik said about Salt.

RCB also made an investment in youth by securing Rasikh Salam Dar, the promising fast bowler from Jammu & Kashmir, for INR 6 crore. The final acquisition of the day came in the form of young leg-spinner Suyash Sharma, bought for INR 2.6 crore.

The post “All Bengaluru should be smiling”: RCB coach Dinesh Karthik delighted with the return of THIS player appeared first on Cricket Country.

Pant was bought for a huge fee of INR 33 crore by the Punjab Kings (PBKS), represented by Eoin Morgan. KL Rahul also was bought for a massive sum of 29.5 crore by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) represented by their former head coach Mike Hesson.

Pant parted ways with Delhi Capitals (DC) ahead of the IPL mega auction, and has even clarified on social media that money wasn’t the factor behind his decision. On the other hand, KL Rahul decided to enter the auction instead of staying with the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and cited team atmosphere as the reason why he didn’t want to continue with the franchise.

“I anticipated his price to soar between Rs 26 and Rs 29 crore, but his eventual price was a record-shattering Rs 33 crore—deservedly so. Rishabh is not just a top-order left-handed batsman but also one of the most explosive players in modern cricket. Coupled with his captaincy credentials and the potential to serve for years to come, he’s akin to securing a young MS Dhoni. This is a strategic long-term investment, focused on building a robust foundation for the future. In my view, players like Pant are simply invaluable,” Morgan said after acquiring Pant.

“RCB would ideally prioritize Rishabh Pant to ensure continuity after Virat Kohli, especially for long-term stability. I personally bid up to ₹32.5 crore for Pant but wouldn’t have stretched as much for KL Rahul. At 32, Rahul brings experience and the ability to anchor the innings post-Virat’s era. As a local talent, he also fills the critical wicket-keeping slot left vacant by DK’s exit. While RCB would likely bid aggressively for him, the final price would hinge on the dynamics and unpredictability of the auction,” Hesson said after acquiring Rahul.

Other big buys from the mock auction include –

Shreyas Iyer – Kolkata Knight Riders (21 crore)

Mitchell Starc – Mumbai Indians (18 crore)

Arshdeep Singh – Punjab Kings (16.5 crore)

Ishan Kishan – Delhi Capitals (15.5 crore)

Yuzvendra Chahal – Sunrisers Hyderabad (15 crore)

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Topley injured his right knee during the series opener against the West Indies on Saturday. He tried to continue bowling after a short rain delay but eventually left the field after bowling one more delivery and didn’t take the field for the rest of the game.

As he walked back up the steps, Topley was seen picking up a chair and smashing it on the staircase handrail. This isn’t the first time that Topley lost his cool during a match as he swiped a chair out of his path after leaving the field following an injury in the 2023 ODI World Cup.

He escaped punishment for his action in 2023, but this time, he has been found guilty by the ICC.

Topley was found to have breached Article 2.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an International Match,” ICC said in a statement.

In addition to this, one demerit point has been added to Topley’s disciplinary record, for whom it was the first offence in a 24-month period.

Topley admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Richie Richardson of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Referees, so there was no need for a formal hearing.

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