Watson to stand in as Royal Challengers captain
In the absence of Virat Kohli and with AB de Villiers ruled out of the season opener on April 5, the Australian allrounder Shane Watson has been named interim captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore
ESPNcricinfo staff
03-Apr-2017
According to the team management, Shane Watson was the 'ideal choice' to lead the team in the absence of Virat Kohli • BCCI
Australian allrounder Shane Watson has been named interim captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The franchise has had to dig deep into its contingency plans over the past week. When it was learnt that the shoulder injury that Virat Kohli sustained would rule him out of the initial stages of the tournament, coach Daniel Vettori had said AB de Villiers would captain the team.
But de Villiers was ruled out of the opening game of the season, against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 5. He had missed playing the final of the Momentum Cup, South Africa's premier one-day tournament, on Friday with a back injury, according to a tweet from CSA. And though he has joined the franchise in Bengaluru and was among the players who trained at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday, Vettori thought it was best to give de Villiers more time to recuperate.
"He still has some minor discomfort and we felt that couple of days off would be best before we have him back in action," Vettori said. "We hope to see him on the field in good form by 8th April match against Delhi Daredevils."
Meanwhile, 19-year old batsman Sarfaraz Khan sustained an injury to his leg at practice on Monday and had to be stretchered off the field. He is likely to miss IPL 2017.
Royal Challengers face defending champions Sunrisers in a rematch of last season's final on Wednesday. The team's chairman Amrit Thomas has said Kohli will be travelling with the team as a mentor.