Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will be heading into the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 with a new captain. Virat Kohli, who had been associated with the Bangalore-based franchise, stepped down from the role of captaincy at the end of the IPL 2021 season.

With the IPL mega-auction set for early next year, franchises will either look for a new captain, among a bunch of players or will make someone the captain from the existing group of players whom they retained.

Commenting on the RCB’s stance on the captaincy, former RCB player Daniel Vettori said that it is unlikely that the Bangalore-based franchise will go for a new captain at the auction. Instead, he put forward Glenn Maxwell‘s name.

However, the question remains as to who will lead RCB in the upcoming season.

In his debut season for the RCB, the Australian scored 513 runs from 15 matches at an average of over 42. This included six half-centuries.

During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo, Vettori said, “Glenn Maxwell will be the likely heir to Kohli. He produced the goods last year and was an exceptional player for them. He has the experience of captaining the Melbourne Stars (in the Big Bash League). We talked about most teams wanting to find a captain when they retain players.”

“I think it has happened too often that teams have to figure out a way to find someone in the auction, which can cloud your thinking at times. So, I do believe that Maxwell will be named captain,” he added.

After a poor run with Punjab Kings, Maxwell was acquired by RCB in the mini-auction. Since the all-rounder repaid the franchise with his performance, Vettori said that the management is likely to reward that trust by appointing him as captain.

“I think there will be reward for his performance. I’m sure Kohli had a huge say in this. He wanted to set the way to allow someone that he didn’t really interact with to come in and lead the team.

“Both (Kohli and Maxwell) have similar demeanors. So, I can see Kohli and Maxwell being in good spirits,” Vettori concluded.

RCB retained Kohli (Rs 15 crore), Glenn Maxwell (Rs 11 crore), and Mohammed Siraj (Rs 6 crore) ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction in January. They will head into the auction with a purse of Rs 57 crore.