AB de Villiers is not RCB’s future anymore, says Gautam Gambhir

The journey of Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2021 ended with a defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Eliminator of IPL 2021. Virat Kohli‘s IPL captaincy stint also ended as RCB suffered a four-wicket defeat against the Eoin Morgan-led side on Monday in Sharjah. 

The IPL 2022 will be held after a mega auction. Rules for the auction are not clear yet but usually, the franchises are allowed to retain only three players. Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir stated that AB de Villiers is no longer the future of the Bangalore-based franchise, and RCB should retain Glenn Maxwell for IPL 2022, since he can be a long-term player for the franchise. De Villiers scored 313 runs this season, but failed to cross over 30 runs in the UAE leg of IPL 2021.

"Yes, because I think they will retain Glenn Maxwell since he is the future, and AB de Villiers is not," Gambhir told ESPNCricinfo.

Gambhir also picked Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Yuzvendra Chahal as his three retention choices for RCB in IPL 2022. Virat Kohli, who stepped down as RCB captain scored 405 runs from 15 matches in the 14th edition of IPL. Maxwell, who became RCB’s top run-scorer in IPL 2021, amassed 513 runs from 15 matches at an average of 42.75. Whereas Chahal scalped 18 wickets at an economy rate of 7.05.