India, March 19 -- Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) raised a few eyebrows due to the names that they chose to first retain and then not really bid for in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction. The most prominent of these were Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj, two long standing core members of the side, and captain Faf du Plessis. The latter's contribution as skipper in RCB's post-Virat Kohli era and as an opening batter was immense enough to say that his departure has left a hole in the top order.

RCB did a decent job of filling up that hole though, landing the services of Phil Salt. But arguably the decision that has dominated the news waves in the lead up to this season of the IPL was initially the possiblity of Kohli bein...