Royal Challengers Bangalore retain Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers; Daniel Vettori named head coach

Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle, 2 of the 3 players retained

Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bangalore have today confirmed the retention of 3 players. Indian batting sensation Virat Kohli, Carribean hard-hitter and 2 time top scorer Chris Gayle, and versatile South-African ODI captain and wicket-keeper AB de Villiers have been confirmed to be the 3 players retained by RCB.

The Vijay Mallya-owned franchise have had great starts in the past, but haven’t been able to win the coveted IPL trophy. This season by retaining their top 3 players, they have put the first foot right towards their goal of winning the trophy.

RCB have also announced that Daniel Vettori will be their new head coach, while Alan Donald has been named their bowling coach. Vettori becomes the first active cricketer to be handed a pure coaching role. Venkatesh Prasad was the previous bowling coach while, Ray Jennigns was the head coach of RCB.

While some of the other franchises have not confirmed their retentions, some of the notable exclusions from RCB include Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan and Cheteshwar Pujara. The IPL rules permit the retention of five players by a franchise.