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'He's not the future' - Gautam Gambhir names 3 players RCB can retain ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction

'He's not the future' - Gautam Gambhir names 3 players RCB can retain ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction

Gautam Gambhir named 3 players RCB should retain ahead of IPL 2022. | Photo - BCCI/IPL |

Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) once again fell short of winning their maiden IPL title as they bowed out of the 2021 edition by losing to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Eliminator, on Monday (October 11) at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah.

After confirming a spot in the playoffs, with two games to spare in the league stage, RCB were beaten by KKR by four wickets, with two balls to spare, in the Eliminator as Sunil Narine's magnificent 4 for 21 and a belligerent 26 took his side home. Following RCB's exit, Kohli stepped down as the captain of the franchise; having already announced his decision at the start of the second and final leg in the UAE.

As a mega auction is scheduled to take place later this year, ahead of IPL 2022, many changes are expected in the RCB line-up as the team management will like to revamp and rebuild their squad with a new leader; in order to win their maiden title in the coming years.

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As franchises are likely to be allowed to retain three players each, former KKR captain Gautam Gambhir feels AB de Villiers might not be retained as 'he is not the future'. He named three players who can be retained by the three-time runners-up going forward.

"Yes, because I think they will retain Glenn Maxwell since he is the future, and AB de Villiers is not," said Gambhir on ESPNCricinfo on being asked if RCB could decide not to retain De Villiers.

"Yes, I would just want to add that between Harshal Patel and Chahal, one can be picked. So, it's up to them whether they want to pick either Chahal or Harshal," the two-time IPL-winning skipper stated when asked if Yuzvendra Chahal, Kohli and Glenn Maxwell will be Bengaluru's three retained players.

Gambhir also opined on Kohli's timing of stepping down as RCB captain. In this regard, he said, "I guess the timing wasn't right. If he had to quit as captain, he could have done that even after the tournament. He was in this situation, where it wasn’t like RCB was not in a position to qualify. They were pretty much in so I believe that had he resigned after the tournament, it would have been better."

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RCB ended the IPL 14 season with ninewins and sixlosses. Some of their top-performers were Maxwell, Harshal Patel (32 scalps), Yuzi Chahal whereas Mohammad Siraj, Kohli and de Villiers had a reasonable season as well.