Rumours suggest that Virat Kohli is likely to hang up his IPL boots

If there’s any player or team that will hog all the limelight on the IPL Retention Deadline Day, it is undoubtedly Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Virat Kohli. After all, there are multiple rumours that suggest that Virat Kohli is expected to hang up his IPL boots.

For the record, after 18 years of relentless struggles, RCB and Virat Kohli lifted their maiden IPL trophy in 2025. On the other hand, the national front saw Kohli winning the ICC T20 World Cup in 2024 for India. In short, when it comes to T20, Kohli has nothing more to achieve, and his trophy cabinet is full to the brim.

Taking this factor into consideration, predicting RCB’s possible list of retentions is a tough cookie for us. Therefore, following the trend, we turned to ChatGPT for answers.

Here’s what the AI said about RCB’s possibilities.

What if?

The AI started its analysis with the big “what if”, i.e., the possible retirement of Virat Kohli. If Kohli retires, RCB will end up with a whopping INR 21 crore in its purse, which is presently spent on Kohli. However, the AI took into account the negative aspects of business, given that Kohli generates revenue for RCB off the field via sponsors and viewership.

(Credit- MensXP)

Moving on to a possible replacement, top Indian faces like Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, and KL Rahul could be out of RCB’s reach. Therefore, Shubman Gill could be an option, given he is a like-for-like marquee face. After all, Gill has ventured into captaincy for India in the ODI and Test formats and enjoys a massive fan following. Having analysed this point, ChatGPT also highlighted that Gill has not performed to a great extent in T20 and is not the explosive batter that the IPL demands.

Possible retentions

(Credit- NDTV)

The final retention list that ChatGPT predicted includes the likes of Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, and Suyash Sharma. AI firmly believes that RCB will retain most of its core team, given the team’s success last year. All the above-mentioned, despite their price tag, are expected to stay with the team to ensure RCB keeps its momentum going from where it left off last season.

Expected releases

Even though Tim David is expected to be in the retention list, there’s also the possibility of him and Liam Livingstone overlapping each other’s roles. Therefore, one of them could hit the exit door. Surplus overseas quicks like Blessing Muzarabani and Lungi Ngidi, and fringe Indian batters with limited 2025 minutes, such as Swastik Chhikara and Abhinandan Singh, are also expected to lose their positions in the team.

ChatGPT ends its prediction by stating, “Expect RCB to retain their championship core and trim overlapping overseas pieces. If Kohli continues, status quo + tweaks; if he retires, RCB gains INR 21 crore but must solve for star power and top-order stability—most plausibly via Salt + a marquee Indian trade/auction splash rather than a single one-for-one replacement.”