New Delhi, March 15: Star batter and former captain Virat Kohli joined the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) squad on Saturday ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season.

In a video shared by the franchise on social media, Kohli can be seen posing in an RCB jersey with the caption reading, “The King is here and like always, he’s 2 steps (sometimes a LOT more) ahead of everyone.”

Kohli was in sublime touch during India’s title-winning campaign in the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai last week. Rohit Sharma-led side defeated New Zealand in the final to claim their third tournament title.

The 36-year-old amassed 218 runs from five matches at an average of 54.50. He scored a match-winning unbeaten century against arch-rivals Pakistan before scoring a crucial 84 against Australia in the semi-final.

For the IPL 2025 season, RCB have appointed Rajat Patidar as their skipper after revamping their squad in last year’s mega auction.

“Rajat, firstly, I want to congratulate you and wish you all the very best. The way you have grown in the franchise and the way you have performed, you have really made a place in the hearts of all the fans of RCB, all over India,” Kohli had said on Patidar’s appointment.

“They get excited to watch you play. So, this is very well deserved. Myself and the other team members will be right behind you, and you’ll have all our support.”

Patidar takes over from Faf du Plessis, who led RCB for the last few seasons but was not retained ahead of the 2025 auction. The 31-year-old batter’s rise in RCB’s ranks has been nothing short of remarkable.

After his breakthrough performance in the 2022 season – where he smashed a scintillating century in the playoffs – Patidar has evolved into a key figure for the franchise.

Kohli, who captained RCB for nearly a decade before stepping down in 2021, acknowledged the weight of responsibility that comes with the role but expressed confidence in Patidar’s leadership. Although this will be Patidar’s first time leading a team in the IPL, he has already captained Madhya Pradesh during the 2024-25 season in both the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (where they finished as runners-up) and the Vijay Hazare Trophy. These tournaments marked his first full-time leadership role in domestic cricket.

Meanwhile, Kohli has been associated with RCB since the inception of IPL in 2008. He has also led the franchise in 140 matches before leaving the leadership role. In 252 matches, the batting stalwart has amassed 8,004 runs, including eight centuries and 55 fifties at an impressive average of 38.67.

The 36-year-old is the leading run-scorer in the IPL, way ahead of Shikhar Dhawan’s tally of 6,769 runs – the second player on the list. Despite having such a decorated IPL career, Kohli has never won a title in the 17 editions of the tournament so far. RCB finished as runners-up on three occasions in 2009, 2011 and 2016.

New Delhi, March 15: Nitish Kumar Reddy has been given the green light by the BCCI’s medical team at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru to take part in IPL 2025. He will be available for Sunrisers Hyderabad’s opening match on March 23, when they host Rajasthan Royals. Nitish is expected to join the SRH pre-season camp, which begins on Sunday.

The final step in his recovery was a yo-yo test on Saturday morning, where he recorded a score of 18 – comfortably surpassing the qualifying mark of 16.5, ESPNcricinfo reported. This milestone confirmed his readiness after undergoing the standard rehabilitation process for a side strain he sustained during last month’s T20I series against England.

On Friday, Nitish played in a practice match and bowled at full intensity without any discomfort. The BCCI’s medical panel took a cautious approach with his recovery, extending his rehab by two weeks beyond the initial three-week estimate. He remains a key part of India’s Test plans, with a tour of England scheduled shortly after the IPL concludes in late May.

SRH had retained five players ahead of last year’s mega auction, with Nitish among them. He enjoyed a breakthrough IPL 2024 season, scoring 303 runs at a strike rate of 142.92. His bowling, however, was less effective, managing just three wickets while conceding runs at an economy of 11.62.

Following his IPL success, Nitish made his international debut in the T20I series against Bangladesh at home. His reputation soared further when he played all five Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, highlighted by a maiden Test century in Melbourne.

After returning from the tour, Nitish had expressed interest in training with former India bowling coach Bharat Arun in Chennai. However, the plan did not materialise due to his side strain setback. Now fully fit, he is set to return to action and make an impact for SRH in IPL 2025.

Mumbai, March 15: The women’s cricket teams of Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians will face each other for the title clash on Saturday in the Women’s Premier League 2025. This match will be played at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. While the Delhi Capitals team made it to the final by topping the points table, Mumbai Indians defeated Gujarat Giants in the eliminator match.

The Delhi Capitals team would like to win any kind of title for the first time. This team has reached the final for the third consecutive time, but they have not yet won the trophy. At the same time, Mumbai Indians also seem to be in their form for the last phase of WPL 2025. They have also got good match practice before the final. In contrast, Delhi finished their group matches in Lucknow, celebrated a holiday, and have practiced only three times before the final.

These two teams have faced each other in the final of the first season of the Women’s Premier League. Mumbai Indians had won the match then. However, Delhi’s performance against Mumbai has been strong this season.

Talking about the pitch, there is a possibility of batting getting help here and slow bowlers will also benefit here. There is hope here, despite this, all the three matches played here in the current season have been won by the team batting first. Usually teams like to run-chase here, but the results of the last few matches have worked to change this perception. Therefore, it will be interesting to see what decision the captain takes after the toss in the final.

Delhi Capitals Women’s Team: Meg Lanning (Captain), Shafali Verma, Jess Jonassen, Jemimah Rodrigues, Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp, Sarah Bryce (Wicketkeeper), Niki Prasad, Minnu Mani, Shikha Pandey, Titas Sadhu, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Alice Capsey, Tania Bhatia, Sneha Deepti, Nandini Kashyap, Nallapureddy Charani

Mumbai Indians Women’s Team: Yastika Bhatia (Wicketkeeper), Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Sajeevan Sajna, Amelia Kerr, Amanjot Kaur, G Kamalini, Sanskriti Gupta, Shabnim Ismail, Saiqa Ishak, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Keerthana Balakrishnan, Jintimani Kalita, Parunika Sisodiya, Amandeep Kaur, Akshita Maheshwari