After the mega-auctions of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, all franchises would brainstorm in making their best playing combination. Some teams like the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) would have to do an extra task of choosing the captain of their side for the upcoming edition of the cash-rich league.
Notably, RCB’s superstar Virat Kohli shocked his fans after revealing that he won’t be captaining the side prior to the completion of IPL’s last season in 2021. As Kohli stepped down from the captaincy, RCB had entered the mega auction in search of Kohli’s ideal successor.
But who will lead the Challengers in the fifteenth edition of the lucrative tournament is still a mystery as the management hasn’t yet revealed any development regarding the next leader of RCB. However, fast bowler Harshal Patel, who was bought again during the recently concluded bidding event, has named Kohl’s successor.
Patel, roped in by RCB at INR 10.75 crore, weighed in on the captaincy debate and named the newly-picked Faf du Plessis. Notably, RCB entered a bidding war with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to rope in Du Plessis and ended up winning the battle. Du Plessis was bought at a whopping INR 7 crore.
Patel, who emerged as the leading wicket-taker in the IPL 2021, backed Du Plessis to lead RCB, stating the 37-year-old has led South Africa pretty well, and he is a potential candidate.
“I don’t know, I haven’t had any chat with anybody at the RCB management, but Faf is, in my opinion. He has led South Africa very well and is a potential candidate, but I certainly can’t say,” Patel said in a conversation on Star Sports.
Patel also opened up about his chat with the RCB management before he was released. The 31-year-old mentioned that RCB wanted him to enter the auction so that he gets to earn more money in the bidding event.
“They basically told me that if we retain you, we’ll have to pay you 6 crore, and 9 crore will be deducted out of our purse because you will be the fourth player. So we don’t want to do that, and we’d rather that you earn that money in the auction, and we’ll try our best to get you back. So that was the only communication,” added Patel.
