Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has showered praise on new Royal Challengers Bengaluru management for moving away from superstar culture. Clarke noted that RCB roped in more impact players in the IPL mega auction and didn’t go for the big names.

Before the IPL 2025 mega auction, RCB retained the trio of Rajat Patidar, Virat Kohli, and Yash Dayal. As Faf du Plessis was not retained by the franchise, Rajat Patidar was named as the new captain. 

RCB has always had a star-studded batting line-up with batters like Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, and Shane Watson but they have failed to go all the way in the tournament. 

Head coach Andy Flower and Director of Cricket Mo Bobat have played an instrumental role in introducing a new approach. RCB also qualified for the playoffs in the previous season but was knocked out after a loss in the Eliminator.

“This RCB team is different. Our minds are still thinking about the time when they had AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, and the other superstars. Generally in team sports, it is not about the superstars. It is about how you gel as a team,” Michael Clarke said on Beyond 23 Cricket Podcast.

RCB will begin their IPL 2025 campaign against defending champions KKR at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Saturday.

On the other hand, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya was booed by the home crowd in the previous season after he replaced Rohit Sharma as a leader. However, Clarke said the Mumbai crowd will back Pandya after his achievements with the national team.

“It was chaos last season because of the change of captain. It was hard to be there because Rohit Sharma used to get cheered, and everyone wanted him to be the captain. Pandya was booed by the home fans, and it was hard to watch, to be honest. I think this season will be very different. I think the respect has been earned in regards to Hardik. The way he continued to show up and cop that last year deserves a lot of credit for that,” Clarke said.

MI will take on CSK at Chennai on Sunday but Pandya will miss the opening game due to slow over-rate offense.