13 years and no IPL trophy. The Royal Challengers Bangalore is one of the three teams among the original eight franchises to have not won the IPL title. RCB came close on two separate occasions – in 2009 and 2016, when they reached the final, but stumbled at the last hurdle. After bagging the wooden spoon twice in three years – 2017 and 2019, while finishing seventh in 2018, RCB put up improved shows in 2020 and 2021, reaching the Playoffs only to get knocked out.

As their IPL 2021 campaign came to an end on Monday evening with a four-wicket defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders, fans are left wondering what’s next for RCB. The biggest question heading into next year’s IPL is what will the composition of the squad look like for IPL 2022. With a mega IPL auction lined up sometime in December, RCB, like all other teams, is expected to undergo an overhaul as only three players are allowed to be retained.

Former India batsman and KKR captain Gautam Gambhir was asked whether RCB would retain the trio of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Yuzvendra Chahal for the next edition of the IPL. In an ESPNCricinfo show called ‘Haan ya Na’ (Yes or No), where the narrators ask the experts certain questions and they have to answer, Gambhir responded: “Yes, I would just want to add that between Harshal Patel and Chahal, one can be picked. So, it’s up to them whether they want to pick either Chahal or Harshal.”

Gambhir weighed in on the possibility AB de Villiers being with RCB in 2022. The former South Africa captain scored over 300 runs from 15 games, but returned poor numbers in the UAE-leg. Asked about the chances of RCB not retaining de Villiers for next IPL, Gambhir said: “Yes, because I think they will retain Glenn Maxwell since he is the future, and AB de Villiers is not.”

The former batsman pointed out that Virat Kohli’s announcement to step down as RCB captain on the first day of the UAE-leg could have distracted the players from performing at their best. Gambhir added that with RCB performing well in the India leg, Kohli could have delayed the announcement, possibly reserving it until the end of the tournament.

“I guess the timing wasn’t right. If he had to quit as captain, he could have done that even after the tournament. He was in this situation, where it wasn’t like RCB was not in a position to qualify. They were pretty much in so I believe that had he resigned after the tournament, it would have been better,” he said.