Last Updated on 1 week by Charbel Coorey

Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) decision not to bid higher than INR 10.50 crore (approx. US$1.2 million) for KL Rahul was one of the talking points of day one of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction. Heading into the showpiece event in Saudi Arabia with one of the biggest purses remaining, it was expected that RCB would go hard for Rahul, who has previously scored 417 runs for the franchise at an average of 37.91 and strike rate of 145.30.

There was criticism for RCB from pundits and fans on social media. Robin Uthappa was quite forthright in his assessment.

“As a local Bengaluru boy and RCB fan, I am very unhappy because they have only one player in the marquee set despite having a huge purse in hand,” said Uthappa via Jio Cinema. “I am feeling sad for the RCB fans.”

Former India batsman Kris Srikkanth was also disappointed by RCB’s strategy. “Rcb needed one really good keeper batter and it would have been an ideal match to bring back Rahul into the fold that to at a steal of a price! The strategy they have currently is baffling and quite naive to be frank!”, he wrote.

What could be the reason why RCB did not buy KL Rahul in the IPL 2025 Auction?

It would have been good to be a fly on the RCB table in Jeddah to get a glimpse of the rationale behind their decision. Perhaps, given they play their home games at the very batting-friendly M Chinnaswamy Stadium, having two accumulators up top (with Virat Kohli being the other) may be something the franchise wanted to avoid.

Amid the criticism, fans online understood the decision. “RCB not going for Rahul is a very W move, Rahul is not a lesser player by any means but would not suit RCB especially with Kohli,” tweeted one fan.

“Apart from the fact that KL Rahul is a Kannadiga, there was no logic for RCB to go for him at the auction. An opening pair with him and Kohli would be great if the format was Tests or ODIs. Not for T20s,” said another.

RCB ended up purchasing England opener Phil Salt for INR 11.5 crore (approx. US$1.36 million). Salt was a key part of Kolkata Knight Riders’ championship-winning season in 2024, striking 435 runs in 12 matches at an average of 39.54 and strike rate of 182.00.