However, worries have been raised as their bowlers, particularly the pacers, have struggled for form.
The IPL 2025 is around two months away, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), who made all the correct moves in the auction which was in November last year, should be pleased with their roster.
However, worries have been raised as their bowlers, particularly the pacers, have struggled for form.
RCB’s pacers for the IPL 2025 season are Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Salam, Romario Shepherd, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, and Nuwan Thushara. There are problems with some of the pacers, as some of them are currently out of form or dealing with other issues.
Lungi Ngidi, who is currently playing in the SA20 2025 for Paarl Royals have been so poor in form that the team had to drop him from the playing XI. In three matches of the tournament he took only one wicket.
His figures were 0 for 37 in 3 overs, 1 for 43 in 4 overs, and 0 for 42 in 4 overs, which means he has conceded at least 10 runs per over in every match. Even before this tournament, against Ireland in the last ODI in October 2024, he was hit for 70 runs in nine overs without taking a wicket. He is completely out of form, which is a major concern for RCB. In the last 3 years in T20s, Lungi Ngidi has an economy rate of 9.07.
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Not only Lungi Ngidi, but another RCB pacer struggling with poor form is Romario Shepherd. Looking at the stats of bowlers over the last three years who have bowled at least 1000 balls, Romario Shepherd has the 4th highest economy rate on the list, and among RCB bowlers, he has the highest, which is another concern for the Bengaluru franchise.
He is currently playing for MI Emirates in the ILT20 and has bowled in only two of the four matches he has played so far. Last season, he played six matches for Mumbai Indians in the IPL and took just 1 wicket at an economy rate of 13.25, which is really poor. Although he is a bowling all-rounder, neither his bowling nor batting has been impressive recently, despite showing a spark of form last game with a cameo that included 26 runs off five balls.
Talking about the list where Lungi Ngidi and Romario Shepherd are mentioned, another RCB bowler who wouldn’t want his name on it is Liam Livingstone. In the last three years, Livingstone has an economy rate of 9.04 with just 64 wickets in 94 innings.
Nuwan Thushara, who had a bright start to his international career still possess an economy of 7.65. However, in the IPL 2024, playing for Mumbai Indians, his economy jumped to 9.88. In the recent series against the New Zealand, he picked up only 2 wicket in 3 matches. His economy rate was 7.71 till 2024, has climbed to 8.72 in 2024 and 2025 combined. He is now representing MI Cape Town in SA20 2025, although he has been benched because of the presence of seasoned pacers like Rabada and Boult. This is a source of concern for the RCB franchise because he is not receiving enough match action, and his recent performances have been subpar.
The squad also includes pacers Abhinandan Singh and Mohit Rathee. Mohit Rathee has only competed in the SMAT 2024, and Abhinandan Singh has not played since September.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is in the twilight of his career but RCB have shown faith in him. They have bought him as the primary pacer to bowl in the powerplay. Bhuvi used to be at his peak till 2022 where his economy was less than eight every season but in the last two seasons his economy rate has gone higher to 8.33 in 2023 and 9.35 in 2024.
Despite not being at his peak, Bhuvneshwar proved his class in SMAT 2024, taking 11 wickets in nine matches at an economy of 6.03, even including a hat-trick against Jharkhand. That proves he still can do all that and become the mainstay of RCB for IPL 2025.
Josh Hazlewood will be the pacer who will be sharing the new ball with Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Just like Bhuvi, RCB have trusted Hazlewood and will be hoping that he can deliver as per their expectations. But one of the issue with Hazlewood recently is the injury. Because of the injury, Hazlewood missed 3 tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and also has been ruled out of the series against Sri Lanka.
The Australian management are hopeful that he will recover in time and will be available for the Champions Trophy 2025. RCB will be hoping the same as just a few days after the completion of the Champions Trophy, IPL will take place, and RCB will be hopeful that Hazlewood will be fully fit.
After the horror against Rinku Singh where he was smashed for five sixes in the last over in IPL 2023, Yash Dayal made a terrific comeback in IPL 2024 playing for RCB as he took 15 wickets in 14 matches for the team. He was their best pacer of the season and one of the key players because of whom RCB reached till the playoffs.
But after that, he hasn’t played T20s much and even when he did the performances weren’t noteworthy. He played 3 T20s in the UP T20 League in August, where he went wicketless in all the three matches that he played, and since then he hasn’t played T20 cricket. He is regularly playing other formats but not T20, which can be a concern for RCB.
Rasikh Salam is another pacer who can be vital for RCB in the upcoming season. In the IPL 2024, bowling at the death for Delhi Capitals, Rasikh Salam took nine wickets in eight matches and was one of Delhi’s best bowlers. He also did well in the SMAT 2024, representing Jammu and Kashmir, taking 11 wickets in seven matches with an economy of 7.46.
But after that, he only played three matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Lots hinge around the young pacer as he will most probably be used as an impact bowler across phases by RCB.
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