Aakash Chopra opens up on four players RCB might look to retain in IPL 2022

Former India opening batter Aakash Chopra is one of the several experts, who have started to announce the possible team combinations the eight franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) might look out for. The perennial underachievers in the IPL, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), have finally got the squad right in the past two years. Often criticized for heavily picking batting superstars, the RCB now has a good bunch of bowlers who can pose an equal threat to the batters.

With the new additions of Glenn Maxwell and Kyle Jamieson performing well in the first half of the 14^th edition of IPL, the franchise, with Virat Kohli and Ab de Villiers, will look to mix youth with experience in the mega auction for IPL 2022.

While speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra added that the franchise will definitely retain Kohli and De Villiers, but was not sure who will they possibly retain as their third and fourth players in the mega auction. “Other than the Mumbai Indians and the Delhi Capitals, I don’t see another franchise who can retain four players. If you look towards RCB, then Virat Kohli will be the first retention, the second retention will be AB de Villiers.”

Aakash Chopra picks Devdutt Padikkal and Yuzvendra Chahal as the other two retentions for RCB

The 43-year-old went with Karnataka player Devdutt Padikkal and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal as his other two options, which he feels RCB might retain. While the former had a breakthrough first season scoring over 400 in IPL 2020, the latter has been an integral part of the Red and Gold franchise for the last five years.

“For the third, I will be thinking about Yuzi Chahal and Devdutt Padikkal, one out of them. In fact, I will want to retain three Indians, Yuzi Chahal, Devdutt Padikkal, and Virat Kohli – the three Indians and one overseas player in AB de Villiers. That’s it, so this is another team which can actually retain four players.”

The squad will look to sue the Right to Match Card (RTM) for Jamieson and Maxwell, for who they broke their bank by shelling 15 and 14 crores respectively.