IPL 2022: 5 Players who can replace Virat Kohli as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain

2. Shreyas Iyer

The ex-captain of Delhi Capitals suffered an injury in the field and unfortunately had to undergo a surgery. This led him to miss the first leg of IPL 2021 and the captaincy duties were handed to Rishabh Pant. Rishabh performed extremely well as a captain and led Delhi to become the table toppers of IPL 2021. Furthermore, after Shreyas returned into the Delhi setup in the 2nd half of IPL 2021, the management decided to stick with Pant as their regular captain.

According to reports, Shreyas Iyer has asked Delhi Capitals to release him so that he could be a captaincy prospect in the mega auctions where as many as 3-4 teams would be looking for a captain. If RCB chooses to purchase Iyer in the auction, he can be a valuable asset as a captain. Shreyas can put forth all of his experience in the RCB setup after having a rich set of experience and captaining under the guidance of Ricky Ponting, who is regarded as one of the best captains in the world.

His captaincy style is more tactical than aggressive, which is the need of the hour for RCB given its dismal run over the years. His records are also impressive after he took over reins of DC from Gautam Gambhir and has led the team to two consecutive playoff appearances in 2019 and 2020. He also helped them reach the finals in 2020, where they were defeated by the Mumbai Indians.

The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium will suit all types of batters. Shreyas can be RCB’s middle over aggressor alongside Glenn Maxwell, with Kohli acting as the anchor. Iyer’s ability to go down the track and hit the spinners at will has the potential to solve RCB’s perennial issue of middle over aggression. Iyer’s multi-dimensional ability can be put to good use because he is still in the early stages of his career and will most likely become the franchise’s future face.