1. Virat Kohli
Kohli will no longer be the captain of the side as he will move to the role of an important senior member. Kohli has gone through a lean path since late 2019 as big scores deserted him. The RCB in all likelihood will retain him as Kohli is still a cricketer with big brand value and following and still the face of the team. Of course, he remains a class batsman too despite the recent struggles. Perhaps, he is a just a couple of good outings away from being that dominant batsman whom we all know. Without captaincy we might just see a liberated batsman.
2. Glenn Maxwell
The retirement of AB de Villiers has made the retention of Maxwell almost a certainty. But even with AB around, the RCB management might have forced to think strongly about keeping the Australian in their ranks. He had a wonderful IPL 2021, his power hits and occasional breakthroughs with his off-spin helping RCB finish third in the group stage and entering the knockouts with minimum fuss for the second year in a row. Maxwell did not have a great ICC T20 World Cup 2021, but that could just be a minor irritant than any barricade.
3. Yuzvendra Chahal
Chahal has been going through a tough phase in his career. The leg-spinner was omitted from India’s squad for the T20 World Cup despite having a reasonable white ball series against Sri Lanka. He could not also break in to India playing 11 for the first two T20Is against New Zealand as Aswhin and Axar were preferred. He played in the third T20I and managed a wicket while bowling a tidy spell. He might just make the cut in the retention list despite the recent turmoils and he has also been a proven performer for RCB in the past years.
4. Harshal Patel
The RCB will not have to shell a great deal of price to retain the pacer. They will think deep about retaining the bowler who walked away with the Purple Cap honour in IPL 2021. Harshal was also impressive in his two T20Is for India, as his assorted mix of slower deliveries. If it comes to retaining a fourth player, then the Royal Challengers will certainly mull Harshal’s name.