'Age Is Just A Number': AB de Villiers' on Faf Du Plessis' Retention By RCB For IPL 2025

Legendary South African batter AB de Villiers said that he expects Virat Kohli to back Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to stay with the franchise for the next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2025. De Villiers was speaking at the latest episode of the '360 Show' on his Youtube Channel after the league's governing body recently announced the player retention related rules and auction format.

Speaking on the Youtube Channel, De Villiers said that Faf turning 40 this year in July is not an issue and it is just a number for the Proteas legend.

"Age is just a number, guys. I don't see why his turning 40 would be an issue. He has been there for a few seasons, and the players are used to him. I think Virat will back him with all his experience," said AB.

Having played his last international match for Proteas in 2021, Faf remains a consistent performer in T20 leagues circuit. In 392 T20s, he has scored 10,929 runs at an average of 32.81, with a strike rate of 136.27. He has scored six centuries and 76 fifties with the format.

Faf has represented Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Rising Pune Supergiant (RPG) and RCB in his IPL career. In 145 IPL matches, he has scored 4,571 runs at an average of 35.99, with a strike rate of over 136 and 37 fifties. His best score is 96.

Since joining RCB as a skipper back in 2022, he has scored 1,636 runs at an average of 38.05, with a strike rate of almost 147. He has scored 15 fifties in 45 innings, with the best score of 96.

In the last season, he made 438 runs at an average of 29.20 and a strike rate of 161.62, with four fifties and best score of 64, playing a big role in RCB's rise to playoffs after a poor first half of the tournament in which they got only one win.

Following a constructive dialogue with the owners of the 10 franchises in July at the BCCI Headquarters, the IPL Governing Council (GC) met in Bengaluru on September 28 to decide the IPL Player Regulations 2025-2027.

The following decisions were taken in the IPL Governing Council meeting:

-The IPL franchises can retain a total of 6 players from their existing squad. This can be either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) option.

-It is at the discretion of the IPL franchise to choose their combination for Retentions and RTMs. The 6 retentions / RTM's can have a maximum of 5 capped players (Indian & Overseas) and a maximum of 2 uncapped players.

-The auction purse for the franchises has been set at INR 120 Crore for IPL 2025. The total salary cap will now consist of auction purse, incremental performance pay and match fees. Previously in 2024, the total salary cap (auction purse + incremental performance pay) was Rs. 110 Crs which will now be Rs. 146 Crs (2025), Rs. 151 Crs (2026) and Rs. 157 Crs (2027).

-A match fee has been introduced for the first time in the history of IPL. Each Playing member (Including the Impact Player) will get a match fee of INR 7.5 Lakhs per match. This will be in addition to his contracted amount.

-Any Overseas Player will have to register for the Big Auction. In case the overseas player doesn't register, then he will be ineligible to register in the following year's player auction.

-Any player who registers in the player auction and after getting picked at the auction, makes himself unavailable before the start of the season, will get banned from participating in the tournament and player auction for 2 Seasons.

-A capped Indian player will become uncapped, if the player has in the last five calendar years preceding the year in which the relevant Season is held, not played in the starting XI in International Cricket (Test match, ODI, Twenty20 International) or does not have a Central Contract with BCCI. This will be applicable for Indian Players only.

-The Impact Player Regulation will continue for the 2025 to 2027 cycle.