Navjot Singh Sidhu picks his best XI from IPL 2025, names former title-winning skipper as captain instead of Shreyas Iyer

Former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu shared his best XI from IPL 2025, days after the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) lifted their maiden title, ending their 18-year-long wait. Rajat Patidar scripted history as he became only the third Indian to lead his side to glory in his first captaincy stint, joining Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya in the history books.

Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shreyas Iyer also turned heads, as he reached back-to-back IPL finals as a leader, having helped the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) win their third title last year.

Although Rajat and Shreyas made headlines with their leadership, Sidhu picked Rohit as his captain for the 2025 season. The star opener has been playing solely as a batter since the 2024 season, particularly as an Impact Substitute, spending the majority of his time in the dugout. He, however, has led the Mumbai Indians (MI) to five IPL titles, the joint most in the tournament alongside MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Virat Kohli, who won his maiden IPL title with RCB, also made it to the former player's team. The star batter had another successful season with the bat, scoring 657 runs in 15 innings, including eight half-centuries.

Sidhu’s team also featured names like Jos Buttler, Shreyas Iyer, Nicholas Pooran, and Hardik Pandya. Pooran smashed the highest number of sixes in the latest edition of the tournament. The southpaw hit 40 sixes in 14 innings. Iyer was second with 39 maximums in 17 innings.

The 61-year-old also included quality bowlers like Josh Hazlewood, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Noor Ahmad, and the 'Player of the Match' in the IPL 2025 final, Krunal Pandya.

Bumrah, Hazlewood, and Krishna were among the wicket-takers in the 2025 season. Krishna won the Purple Cap by scalping 25 wickets in 15 innings. CSK’s Noor Ahmad was the leading wicket-taker among spinners, with 24 scalps in 14 league games.

Navjot Singh Sidhu's IPL 2025 team (via Times Now):

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Virat Kohli, Jos Buttler, Shreyas Iyer, Nicholas Pooran, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Noor Ahmad, Prasidh Krishna, Jasprit Bumrah, Josh Hazlewood.

A look at notable absentees from Navjot Singh Sidhu's IPL 2025 best XI

Sai Sudharsan and Suryakumar Yadav were the notable absentees in Navjot Singh Sidhu's best XI despite scoring 759 and 717 runs, respectively, to finish as the top two scorers. Similarly, RCB's title-winning skipper Rajat Patidar failed to make it to the former cricketer's XI.

Several impressive youngsters like Priyansh Arya (PBKS), Vaibhav Suryavanshi (RR), Sai Kishore (GT), Digvesh Rathi (LSG), and Ayush Mhatre and Dewald Brevis (CSK) were also snubbed by Sidhu.

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