“The second highest wicket-taker was an all-rounder” - Former India star’s blunt comparison of RCB IPL 2025 team with 2016

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has cited the differences between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) sides in 2016 and 2025. The 40-year-old said that the team in 2025 was playing more as a team, with more players contrbuting to their success.

Pathan said that in 2016, RCB was a team full of superstars, but their batting primarily revolved around the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. In 2025, however, different batters have contributed to their success.

"The team in 2016 was one with a lot of superstars. There used to be big names, the likes of Chris Gayle, Shane Watson, Virat Kohli and it was the beginning of KL Rahul's career. In the 2016 final, you needed to chase 209 runs, Kohli has reached his half-century. They had made 100 runs in 10 overs, but once Kohli fell to Barinder Sran, AB de Villiers also fell in the next over. The remaining batters-Gayle and Watson-were struggling. They were not playing as a team," Pathan said on his YouTube channel.

"But this season is different. This season RCB is playing as a team and if you look at the batting unit you will find five batters who have scored 250 runs. Whether it is Jitesh Sharma, Rajat Patidar, Devdutt Padikkal, Phil Salt or Virat Kohli. All of them are batting in unison," he added.

Irfan Pathan compares the 2016 and 2025 RCB bowling attacks

The 2007 T20 World Cup winner also stressed on how the RCB bowling had complemented the batters in IPL 2025. He said that the team had only one bowler and an all-rounder taking wickets in 2016, while the 2025 side had more well rounded bowlers, all of whom offered something different to the opposition.

"If you compare again with 2016, Yuzvendra Chahal had 21 wickets, and Watson had 20 wickets. The second-highest wicket-taker was an all-rounder, not a main bowler.

"But what can we expect this season? Hazlewood has 21 wickets, Krunal Pandya has 15 wickets, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has 15 wickets, Yash Dayal has 12 wickets and Suyash Sharma has eight wickets. You have different bowlers for different situations. So here is a unique bowling attack that has raised the hopes of RCB fans this season," Pathan said.

RCB will take on the winner of Qualifier 2 between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings in the final in Ahmedabad on June 3.