IPL 2017: Shane Watson is the new captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore in Virat Kohli’s absence

Royal Challengers Bangalore retained Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Sarfaraz Khan

Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson has been named as captain for the Royal Challengers Bangalore for the start of IPL 2017. Watson will captain the Bangalore franchise till regular skipper Virat Kohli recovers from his shoulder injury.

The RCB camp has been hit hard by injuries: apart from Kohli, KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan are set to miss the campaign, while AB de Villiers is carrying a back injury which forced him to miss out the final of the Momentum Cup in South Africa.

Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson has been named as captain for the Royal Challengers Bangalore for the start of IPL 2017.

Royal Challengers Bangalore is the second team after Mumbai Indian’s to bid higher in the IPL team auctions . Royal Challengers Bangalore reached three times in IPL finals but all timed the loose the match first in 2009 by Deccan Chargers , in 2011 by Chennai Super Kings and in 2016 by Sunrisers Hyderabad . M. Chinnaswamy Bangalore  is the home playing ground of RCB with the seat capacity of 50000 person.

Watson has previously captained the Rajasthan Royals side, and has received the Player of the Tournament award twice. 

In a statement released a day before the start of the first game, the franchise that Kohli will miss the opening few games of the tournament. They also added: “In the interim, Shane Watson, will lead the RCB team as the stand-in captain. Shane has been one of the top performers and a great mentor for the team, making him an ideal choice to lead the team this season till Virat is back on field”.

Kohli injured his shoulder while fielding during the Ranchi Test in the recently concluded India-Australia Test series. The 28-year old was forced to sit out of the decider at Dharamsala, and stated in the post-match talk that he was still “a few weeks away from match fitness”.

Extra Cover: IPL 2017: BCCI says Virat Kohli will not play IPL for two weeks

Watson had joined the RCB camp in 2016, having been bought by the franchise for Rs. 9.5 crore in the auctions last year. He was previously part of the Rajasthan Royals side.

The 35-year old retired from international cricket last year, with the World T20 being his last series. He was last seen representing the Islamabad United team in the recently concluded Pakistan Super League. 

Bangalore begin their campaign with their opening game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 5.

RCB squad: Pawan Negi, Tymal Mills, Aniket Choudhary, Praveen Dubey, Billy Stanlake, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harshal Patel, Mandeep Singh, Adam Milne, Sarfaraz Khan, S Aravind, Kedar Jadhav, Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Samuel Badree, Iqbal Abdulla, Travis Head, Sachin Baby, Avesh Khan, Tabraiz Shamsi.

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