Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra is not sure whether Royal Challengers Bengaluru will retain their skipper Faf du Plessis in the upcoming Indian Premier League auction. Faf is currently 40 and it will be interesting to note if the franchise invests in him for another three years.
The former South African captain scored 428 runs in 15 matches of IPL 2024 at an average of 29.20 and a strike rate of 161.62 and played an instrumental role in taking RCB to the playoffs.
“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,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
The renowned commentator added if he was part of the RCB think tank, he would retain all-rounder Cameron Green and Indian fast bowler Mohammed Siraj.
“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,” Chopra elaborated.
Chopra added he would also retain Rajat Patidar, who has performed consistently for RCB but he would release Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell.
“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.
The former Delhi player added retaining England batter Will Jacks will not be a bad choice for RCB ahead of the mega auction.
“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,” he replied.
IPL 2025 mega auction is likely to take place in December.
