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

Phil Salt Career Stats