RCB retains Kohli, Gayle & de Villiers

Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday decided to retain India’s batting sensation Virat Kohli, West Indies’ Chris Gayle and South Africa’s A B de Villiers for the upcoming IPL season, besides announcing the appointment of former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori as their head coach. RCB, expectedly, have retained their batting nucleus in the form of Gayle, Kohli and de Villiers for the seventh edition of the cash rich league. While Kohli has been representing the Bangalore-based side since the inaugural edition, Gayle and de Villiers have joined the Vijay Mallya owned side in 2011 from Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils respectively. Besides appointing former Kiwi and ex RCB captain Vettori as the chief coach, former South African pacer Allan Donald was also roped in as the bowling mentor of the side while Australia’s Trent Woodhill would take care of batting and fielding departments. ‘Having been closely associated with RCB for three years, I’m very excited by the opportunity to work with Virat Kohli in delivering on RCB’s true potential,’ Vettori said in a RCB release.