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Cricket Players'We're going to do some special things this season': RCB head coach welcomes Du Plessis as team gears up for IPL 2022
IPL 2022: Royal Challengers Bangalore will open their campaign against Punjab Kings in Mumbai on March 27.
In the hunt for elusive Indian Premier League (IPL) title, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be with a new leader in the upcoming season. Virat Kohli, who relinquished RCB captaincy after last year's IPL, will be seen only as a batter with Faf du Plessis stepping in the role of the team's skipper. Bangalore aggressively bid for the South African in a bidding war with his former franchise Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals at last month's mega auction. (ALSO READ | RCB IPL 2022 Schedule: Royal Challengers Bangalore complete fixtures, match timings, venues, dates- All you need to know)
Du Plessis joins Bangalore with plenty of experience under his belt, having played 100 IPL games with 2935 runs at a strike rate of 131-plus. RCB head coach Sanjay Bangar also welcomed the 37-year-old du Plessis to the squad and anticipated the franchise to do "special" things this year.
"You all bring a lot of skill sets along with you, whether you are an experienced player or just starting out. We have full confidence in your abilities. The next couple of days are going to be about easing you into the RCB structure. We are going to do some special things this season. and it is not possible without your contribution," said Bangar in a video shared by RCB.
"Good to see Faf coming in, hitting a few balls really making good contact and also players who have been in the IPL circuit like Karn (Sharma) or Siddharth (Kaul), they also turned up well."
RCB had retained three players -- Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj -- ahead of the mega auction. The franchise bought back Harshal Patel for ₹10.75 crore; the bowler was the Purple Cap winner in the 2021 edition of the tournament with 32 wickets to his name. RCB also splurged a similar amount on leading Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga.
The RCB bolstered their batting lineup with the likes of Dinesh Karthik and Finn Allen, while adding Josh Hazlewood and Jason Behrendorff to the bowling mix.
RCB's Director of Cricket Operations, Mike Hesson, also spoke about the start of the 15th IPL edition and expressed his excitement to meet the members of the unit.
"It is nice to meet the guys, the ones you have watched on videos, the ones you have seen from afar, to meet with them and sit down and have a coffee with them, talk about the game with them, it is exciting. It is the fresh part about a new group, huge amount of excitement here," said Hesson.
"The three-day quarantine makes a significant difference in terms of you don't need to start reloading everybody. You can start training right away now, whereas previously it was like easing into it, now we can start with purpose," he further added.
RCB will open their campaign against Punjab Kings in Mumbai on March 27. They are slotted in Group B and will take on their fellow group members Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings, Chennai Super Kings, and Gujarat Titans two times each.
