RCB Head Coach Andy Flower Reveals Bold Strategy for IPL 2025

Andy Flower, the head coach for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), has shared the team's plans for the IPL 2025 season, and it's causing a lot of excitement. There will be wonderfully new changes to how they approach batting and bowling. Everyone's speaking a lot about the new starting players and the new players joining the team.

Kohli and Salt: A Dynamic Opening Pair

Flower said they're extremely happy with the team they have today, and that it was vitally important to have a powerful batter, like Phil Salt, open the innings with Virat Kohli from RCB. We removed most of the players we wanted, honestly. Having that very strong beginning with Salt partnering up with Virat is of significant consequence for us, Flower explained.

This pairing is expected to combine Kohli’s unmatched consistency and Salt’s aggressive intent, creating a formidable opening duo capable of setting the tone for matches. The move underscores RCB’s commitment to maximizing powerplay runs and providing a solid foundation for the middle order.

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Andy Flower said "Virat Kohli & Phil Salt will be at the Top for RCB in IPL 2025". [Sports Tak] pic.twitter.com/gbM3RbDOmL

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 10, 2025

Strengthened Middle Order

Flower is excited about having Liam Livingstone, Rajat Patidar, and Jitesh Sharma on the team. He said that having Livingstone is exceptionally wonderful because even though he's great now, his best might still be to come. RCB's batting seems stronger than ever with these men, especially in the middle. Livingstone, along with Patidar and Sharma, are counted on to keep things steady and increase the aggression in the closing parts of their games.

Reinforced Bowling Attack

At the club, having Hazlewood return is very wonderful. The observer noted that it is nice we have killer Bhuvi today. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a seasoned Indian bowler, and Krunal Pandya are joining the team, which is very important. She noted that their skills would be very helpful, especially with Krunal's talents teaming up nicely with Bhuvi's. Together, they're going to make a major difference for RCB.

The bowling lineup now includes proven performers like Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, and Rasik Salaam. Flower praised Yash Dayal’s performance last season and emphasized the importance of such depth and variety, particularly at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, known for its batting-friendly conditions.

Moving on from Faf du Plessis

RCB faced a strikingly large choice this season when they decided not to keep Faf du Plessis as their captain. Flower said a lot about du Plessis, stating, there were multiple discussions about Faf du Plessis. Mr. Plessis is in great form as well. And he's a wonderful captain, incredible person. Mr. Plessis has been a wonderful leader for RCB.

However, RCB’s focus on securing an opening batter who could also keep wickets resulted in Salt’s selection, making it unfeasible to retain Faf. "Unfortunately, Faf, it didn’t fit for him to come back on this occasion," Flower explained.

Building for Success

This season, RCB made a strikingly large decision not to have Faf Du Plessis as their captain anymore. Flower really talked a lot about Du Plessis, mentioning they had a large amount of discussions about him. He also said Mr. Du Plessis is doing very well in games and is a very good person and captain. Truly, Mr. Du Plessis has been an amazing leader for RCB.

However, RCB’s focus on securing an opening batter who could also keep wickets resulted in Salt’s selection, making it unfeasible to retain Faf. "Unfortunately, Faf, it didn’t fit for him to come back on this occasion," Flower explained.

Virat Kohli Career Stats

Format	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100s	50s	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	123	210	13	9,230	254*	46.85	16,608	55.57	30	31	1,027	30	121	0
ODIs	295	283	44	13,906	183	58.18	14,866	93.54	50	72	1,302	151	152	0
T20Is	125	117	31	4,188	122*	48.69	3,056	137.04	1	38	369	124	54	0
FC	155	258	20	11,479	254*	48.23	20,511	55.96	37	39	1,340	45	152	0
List A	329	316	47	15,348	183	57.05	16,402	93.57	54	80	1,466	175	170	0
T20s	399	382	71	12,886	122*	41.43	9,602	134.20	9	97	1,144	416	182	0

Phil Salt Career Stats

Format	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100s	50s	4s	6s	Ct	St
ODIs	27	25	0	866	122	34.64	760	113.94	1	5	118	15	10	0
T20Is	38	35	5	1,106	119	36.86	669	165.32	3	4	103	58	23	2
FC	52	85	3	2,749	148	33.52	3,820	71.96	6	14	348	26	75	4
List A	43	41	1	1,360	137*	34.00	1,232	110.38	2	7	180	30	15	0
T20s	268	259	20	6,517	119	27.26	4,187	155.64	3	41	688	266	140	14