IPL 2025: King Kohli Will Be The Cynosure As RCB Resume Battle In IPL

IPL 2025: A ten-day break for the player and teams in the Indian Premier League is a luxury. This time, the hiatus was an unplanned one, thanks to the manic war India had been pressed into by rogue Pakistan.

Operation Sindoor, which has made people fall in love with India/Bharat over and over again, saw the pause button pressed for the IPL.

Never mind, from tonight (May 17), the famous stars will be back in action. And what better place and venue than the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru where Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will hope to win against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and ensure they can make it to the Playoffs.

Few would have thought before the start of the IPL 2025, RCB would make it this far. With a new captain in command, Rajat Patidar, RCB have done well. There has been a blip here and there but to hit the ground running again and produce rich form, RCB have looked good.

If anything, post the break, there will be more pressure on KKR, playing away from home. These days, the Bengaluru weather is more fickle than London, so even if there is rain, the ground staff knows how to handle it.

Indeed, after a stoppage in the IPL, resumption leads to a lot of worry. Many teams in disarray. RCB are without Josh Hazlewood. His shoulder injury is a concern, yet RCB have to move on.

So much has changed since the time RCB last played a match in the IPL. Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket a few days ago and the constant chatter over him continues.

People are still asking why he quit, as he looked good for a full Test series against England. Going by all conversations, chatter and comments from former India players and even coach Ravi Shastri, Kohli was unhappy and quit.

This was not the first time he had been humiliated. For those who may have forgotten, in 2022, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had more than needled Kohli. He ensured both Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri went out.

This time, coach Gautam Gambhir, who has no formal coaching experience but brags and boasts more like an ex Fauji on war, has done the damage.

It is well-known, Gambhir has ruined a few careers in Indian cricket. There is a common thread, wherein R.Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket . Gambhir is on a temple-hopping spree.

It is a PR drive, for cronies in the media are pressed to post photos of him with family at the Siddhi Vinayak Temple in Mumbai. Last heard, he is visiting Tirupati as well.

To be sure, Gambhir has only done damage. Repentance by way of visiting temples, that's no solution for the damage he has done. If there is a rogue's gallery, his photo will be first. Yet, a hero like Virat Kohli will not let a Gambhir mess with his happiness.

A hurt Virat Kohli is going to be even more dangerous as he guides Rajat Patidar and RCB to new highs, hopefully. All of a sudden, Kohli has created a mass hysteria of sorts. He will be the cynosure and will be at the forefront of RCB's campaign in the remainder of the IPL 2025.

A hurt Kohli will be the most watched man in IPL 2025. Even if he is not going to score heavy runs, he will be playing with more freedom. He is done with Test cricket and the IPL will be his own stage to deliver. Saturday night, 730pm, this will be fun to watch, after an overdose of war images from across the border.

S. Kannan is a veteran Indian sports journalist with a career spanning over 3 decades