"I don't see Faf as a long-term investment" - Aakash Chopra says RCB might need a replacement for Faf du Plessis

Aakash Chopra feels the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) might need a replacement for Faf du Plessis as he doesn't see the veteran South African as a long-term captaincy option.

The Bangalore-based franchise bought Du Plessis at the last mega-auction for ₹7 crore. With Virat Kohli already having given up the captaincy, the three-time finalists appointed the former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) player as their skipper.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra reflected on RCB's current squad heading into the IPL 2023 auction. Regarding Du Plessis, he said:

"I don't see Faf (du Plessis) as a long-term investment. You might need a replacement next year if not this year. So can they start thinking about that? I am not saying that you go towards Joe Root or Kane Williamson because this ground does not suit them at all."

The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player explained why Joe Root and Kane Williamson might not be the right options and added that the franchise might not be able to afford Jason Holder as well, observing:

"You need an explosive player, not someone who scores through singles and doubles. But from a captaincy point of view - Jason Holder, but how will they afford him? They will not be able to do that. I don't think this team can do any big spending."

Root is looking to showcase his wares in the IPL for the first time. Williamson and Holder were released by the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) respectively ahead of the mini-auction to be held in Kochi on December 23.

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"They are already a settled team" - Aakash Chopra on RCB

The Royal Challengers Bangalore will hope to win their maiden IPL title. [P/C: iplt20.com]

However, Chopra opined that RCB are already a formidable side heading into the auction, elaborating:

"If Royal Challengers Bangalore have to win the trophy, they will have to make this auction fantastic. But the truth is also that they are already a settled team. They haven't released any big names, they haven't come with the viewpoint of enhancing their purse."

The renowned commentator highlighted that RCB have most of the bases covered in their squad, explaining:

"The team is ready. Faf is the captain, Virat Kohli is there, Rajat Patidar is doing very well here, they have an opening option in the form of Anuj Rawat, a finisher in the form of Dinesh Karthik, a middle-order player in the form of Glenn Maxwell, Finn Allen, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood - it's a very decent team."

RCB released just five players - Jason Behrendoff, Aneeshwar Gautam, Chama Milind, Luvnith Sisodia and Sherfane Rutherford - ahead of the auction. They have a maximum of seven slots to fill in the auction and can acquire at most two overseas players.