IPL 2021: Sanjay Manjrekar reveals his captaincy choices for RCB after Virat Kohli

Former India cricketer and now commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has revealed his choice for RCB captaincy after Virat Kohli ends his leadership stint with the franchise. Kohli recently announced the ongoing edition to be his last at the helm of the team, even though he will continue to play for the team in the future.

With IPL set to have a mega-auction in 2022, plenty of shuffling and changes are a given with all the teams. Manjrekar feels that RCB should hand their captaincy to Kieron Pollard, the current West Indies skipper in the shortest format, while he also has captaincy experience in Caribbean Premier League, where he leads Trinbago Knight Riders.

Manjrekar picked other potential candidates as Suryakumar Yadav, another Mumbai Indians player, and David Warner, former Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper. He reckoned that RCB must not look towards AB de Villiers as a leader as he is heading towards the end of his IPL career. That does, however, show that Manjrekar expects RCB to retain de Villiers.

“How many years could you get out of AB de Villiers as the captain? So, I would like to have someone who has at least three years to offer. Pollard is one guy who has the leadership qualities. Suryakumar Yadav and David Warner are my three contenders,” said Manjrekar during a chat on ESPNcricinfo.

AB de Villiers is a phenomenal player but he is at the end of his career: Dale Steyn

Manjrekar’s co-panelist Dale Steyn agreed with his argument of de Villiers not being an ideal captaincy choice. Although, his choice for RCB’s captaincy was different than that of Manjrekar’s, as he reckoned KL Rahul, the current Punjab Kings skipper, as the correct option.

“I don’t think AB de Villiers is the right way to go. I think he is a phenomenal player. But he is at the end of his career. I think he is a great leader. But if RCB are going to look at a long-term contender as captain, they should be looking within their own borders. It’s KL Rahul. I just have a feeling he is going to return back to Bangalore,” Steyn said.