Faf du Plessis, who led the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for three IPL seasons from 2022 to 2024, was not retained by the franchise for the upcoming league. This places du Plessis alongside Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul in the pool for the IPL mega auctions.
Du Plessis demonstrated his value to RCB in the past two seasons. In 2024, he guided the team to the playoffs with a remarkable seven consecutive wins. In 2023, he was a strong contender for the Orange Cap with 730 runs at a strike rate of 153.68 from 14 matches.
Andy Flower, RCB’s head coach, acknowledged du Plessis’s contributions. “Last year, Faf’s captaincy and leadership – in what was a really tough season, particularly in the first half – was sensational,” Flower said. “He led the revival that took us into the finals.”
Director of Cricket Mo Bobat explained the decision: “The decision to not retain Faf is a tricky one because I have nothing but admiration for him… Faf, I’m sure, will admit himself, is at the latter part of his career now. And obviously for Andy and I, we have to think really strongly around RCB’s leadership moving forward.”
Du Plessis’s performance and leadership will be missed, but the focus now turns to RCB’s future plans and leadership restructuring.
RCB retained former skipper Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and uncapped Yash Dayal. The franchise ended up spending Rs. 37 crore in the process and will enter the mega auction later this month with Rs. 83 crore in their kitty.
Additionally, RCB can retain members from their IPL 2024 squad by using their three Right to Match cards. It will allow them to stick with one uncapped player and two capped internationals or three capped players.
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