Former India opener turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has shared some names for the probable captains of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) for IPL 2022.
While Virat Kohli has stepped down from the captaincy role of RCB, it will be a tough task ahead to find a suitable skipper. On the other hand, PBKS didn’t retain their captain KL Rahul for the upcoming season. In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said:
“You have retained Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Siraj. Can any of them be the captain? Kohli could have been but he has said that he will not become the captain. In fact, now he is a ruler with no kingdom. He is the king of no kingdom at this point in time.”
Chopra elaborated:
“Can they think about Maxwell? Maxwell is a tempting option but he is also a volatile option. His performance was very good last year. In fact, RCB should pat their backs that they got such good performances from him. But could he be their captain? Tough choice, I won’t really go down that route.”
Notably, Glenn Maxwell was one of the key players of RCB in IPL 2021. But the franchise might not give him more pressure of captaincy as well.
Aakash Chopra added that Shreyas Iyer could be a good candidate for RCB captain for IPL 2022. He said:
“Shreyas Iyer is an option. Bangalore can think about him but personally, he is not my No. 1 pick for Bangalore because the ground is not like that. He is a top-order batter and it will not work out if you send him below No. 4. You might not have a place till No. 4 as you have Kohli and Maxwell, and you are trying to bat Maxwell up the order.”
However, the veteran believes Jason Holder could be the perfect candidate as captain. Apart from him, Aakash Chopra also picked Ishan Kishan, Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner as the other options for the captaincy options for the RCB as well.
“They can either think about Maxwell or let me just throw a name here – Jason Holder. He is an unassuming character, does not impose himself, he is absolutely perfect for a franchise like RCB. He will play all the matches, he knows how to run a team and he will never take the center stage,” Aakash Chopra again shared.
Finalise Mayank Agarwal in my opinion – Aakash Chopra
He also believes the Punjab Kings (PBKS) should name Mayank Agarwal as their captain and not look for another option. He said:
“Punjab have retained Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh. That is where the answer might just be hidden because they have let Rahul and all others go, only two players have stayed with this team, so Mayank could be an option. Make Mayank the captain, don’t go looking for another captain.”
However, Aakash Chopra also stated that the PBKS have the biggest remaining purse and they can pick anyone they want fr the role. Notably, they have ₹ 72 crores left in their purse as well. Chopra observed:
“I feel they have a captain. They don’t need to shop for a captain. They have the most amount in their kitty to be spent because they were able to retain the least players, which means plenty of money to spend and they do spend.”
“Finalize Mayank Agarwal in my opinion. Make the plan to move forward with Mayank for the next two to three years. Mayank is a gun player. He plays T20 cricket very well. If you see the last three years, he is going shoulder to shoulder with Rahul. In fact, if you do man-to-man marking, KL Rahul has more runs but Mayank has had a greater impact. Mayank is the aggressor and he is also a good thinking brain, and he puts team before self. Mayank is a no-brainer in my opinion,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
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