RCB's director of cricket, Mo Bobat, has opened up about the decision to not retain star pacer Mohammed Siraj during the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction last year. RCB went on to sign marquee players like Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneswar Kumar and England’s Phil Salt, but they decided to release stars like Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell and Siraj. In Siraj's absence, Bhuvneshwar Kumar spearheaded RCB's pace attack at the IPL 2025. Explaining the reason, Bobat revealed that the team’s most important task was to acquire pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and RCB had deliberated for a long time before releasing Mohammed Siraj. Notably, RCB had bought Bhuvneshwar Kumar at the auction for ₹10.75, and his impact was immediate and significant.
"We were keen to try and get Bhuvneshwar Kumar and we felt like hanging on to Mohammed Siraj would make it difficult to get Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar),” Bobat said in a conversation with Cricbuzz.
Bobat also revealed that Virat Kohli supported RCB's decision of appointing Rajat Patidar as their new skipper. Ahead of IPL 2025, RCB had decided to appoint Rajat Patidar as the team's new captain following the departure of former captain Faf du Plessis.
“We spoke with Virat that Rajat was going to be new to captaincy. And Virat said, ‘Look, 100%, I’m there to help. It’s in all of our interests if Rajat succeeds. Let’s give this a go.’ It was brilliant to have Virat’s blessing and his approval because he’s an important person and player in our environment,” Bobat said.
RCB's strategy paid off as they stormed through the season and won their first-ever IPL title, putting an end to 18 years of waiting.