Veteran commentator Aakash Chopra is not sure whether the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) should retain Faf du Plessis for a three-year auction cycle. He also named Virat Kohli as RCB’s first potential retention ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. Du Plessis led RCB to the playoffs in IPL 2024 despite having a poor show in the tournament. However, they couldn’t end their title drought as RR beat them in the Eliminator.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “This is always a very interesting question. Tough question again as to who would you want to retain. Virat Kohli will be one you will retain. Can you retain Faf for three years? That is a big question. Do you want to retain Faf for three years? Not sure.”
While saying that Rajat Patidar could be another potential retention, Chopra said that he would want to release Glenn Maxwell who had a poor show with the bat in IPL 2024. He managed a paltry 52 runs at a dismal average of 5.78 in nine innings as well.
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“If I get a chance I will retain Cameron Green. I will retain Mohammed Siraj because I won’t get too many Indian fast bowlers in the auction if I let him go as part of the retentions. Rajat Patidar maybe, if he can be retained slightly cheap, but that’s about it. Too many names aren’t there. I will release Maxi. I will say it’s enough, that you are a very good player, you play very well, but it’s okay. I want to look somewhere else. So I might leave Maxi,” he said.
However, Aakash Chopra was asked whether Will Jacks could be a retention option for the RCB as well. Virat Kohli (741), Faf du Plessis (438), and Rajat Patidar (395) were RCB’s top three run-getters in IPL 2024 as well. Yash Dayal and Mohammed Siraj, with 15 wickets each were their most successful bowlers in the season.
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“Will Jacks is not a bad choice. You can do that. Between Will Jacks and Glenn Maxwell, Will Jacks is much better. So that’s a possibility, an outside chance. It depends on how many people you get a chance to retain. Personally, RCB need to prepare a good bowling unit, a batting unit that complements Virat Kohli’s cricket, and then try to win. That’s what I think RCB should be doing,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
