After Virat Kohli stepped down as the captain of the franchise, AB de Villiers-less Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will kickstart a new era in the 15th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Dubbed as the perennial underachievers in domestic cricket’s biggest extravaganza, Glenn Maxwell-starrer RCB secured a top-four finish in the 14th season of the IPL. Kohli, who had earlier revealed that he will relinquish the RCB captaincy had failed to end the franchise’s title drought in the IPL 2021. 

Eoin Morgan’s Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) shattered Kohli’s dream of clinching his maiden IPL title in his final season as RCB captain in the playoff stage of the elite tournament. With Kohli set to take the role of a pure batter in the 15th season, Royal Challengers Bangalore are tipped to revamp their squad in the build-up to next installment of the world’s richest T20 league. 

According to a report filed by NDTV, it has been learned that the Bangalore heavyweights will retain former captain Kohli and ‘Big Show’ Maxwell in the lead-up to the mega auction. Sources in the know of the developments have stated that both Kohli and Maxwell will remain at RCB for the 2022 season of the cash-rich league. Former skipper Kohli and star all-rounder Maxwell played instrumental roles in taking the RCB franchise to the business end of the elite competition. 

Leading RCB in his final season as captain, Kohli smashed 405 runs from the 15 matches he played for the Bangalore franchise. Maxwell, who revived his IPL career with RCB, amassed 513 in 15 matches last season. Maxwell also emerged as the top run-getter for Kohli & Co. in IPL 2021. Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore side won 9 of their 14 matches in the league phase of the IPL 2021. RCB finished third in the IPL 2021 standings with 18 points. November 30 is the deadline for the eight old IPL teams to share the list of players they would retain for the forthcoming season.