Royal Challengers Bangalore are all set to go through a major transition in the upcoming IPL 2022 auctions. It was prior to the UAE leg of the IPL 2021 when Virat Kohli declared that he would be playing his final season as the captain of the RCB franchise, citing a heavy workload as the reason for his decision.
Though, Virat has stepped down from the position of captaincy but he will continue to play for the franchise. Not just this, RCB’s star player AB de Villiers recently retired from all forms of cricket, leaving a major void in the team.
On Wednesday, Royal Challengers Bangalore was the first team to announce its list of retained players. The franchise revealed Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and Mohammed Siraj as the three cricketers they showed faith in.
But now with Virat Kohli stepping down as the captain of RCB, a big question that has kept everyone talking is who will be the next captain of RCB. Several cricket experts and pundits are coming up with their opinions and suggestions for the right person to lead the team.
The latest one to join the bandwagon is the former New Zealand spinner and ex-head coach of the franchise, Daniel Vettori.
Speaking on ESPNCricinfo, Daniel Vettori revealed that he feels the leadership role is likely to go to Glenn Maxwell, who recently produced a stellar show in his maiden season for RCB, scoring 513 runs from 15 matches at an average of over 42, including six half-centuries.
Daniel Vettori called Maxwell the ‘heir to Kohli’ and was confident that the former RCB captain must have thought about it before opting to step down from the position of captaincy. He said:
“He will be the likely heir to Kohli. He produced the goods last year and he was exceptional player for them. He has the experience of captaining the Melbourne Stars. We talked about most teams wanting to find a captain when they retain players,”
He added:
“I think it has happened too often that teams have to figure out a way, know whom to find in the auction, which can cloud your thinking at times. So I do believe that Maxwell will be named captain. It could be just for one season… to see how it goes but it’s a pretty good stop-gap measure built for the future.”
The former Kiwi captain reckoned the duo of Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell will bode well for RCB and that the Australia all-rounder would have learned a few things having played under the Virat for a season. Daniel said:
“I think that there is a reward for a performance. I’m sure Kohli had a huge say in this. He wanted to set the way to allow someone that he didn’t really interact with to come in and lead the team. So I can see Kohli and Maxwell being in good spirits. They have been aggressive on the field and have similar demeanours. I believe that it would have played a part. We can speculate a little but it seems like the likely scenario,”
