The tenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has not even started and the competition is already in danger of losing its shine due to a spate of injuries and pullouts.
Some of the biggest attractions of the lucrative league like Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Mitchell Starc, KL Rahul, Ravichandran Ashwin, Murali Vijay have already been ruled out of the tournament.
One team which is suffering the most due to the injuries is Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Their talismanic skipper Virat Kohli is already nursing a shoulder injury and will remain on the sidelines for at least a couple of weeks.
KL Rahul, who had played a big role in helping the team make it to the final last year, has also been ruled out of the season due to a shoulder injury.
And just when they were coming to terms with these two huge blows, they received another setback, as AB de Villiers is also doubtful for the season owing to a back injury. De Villiers, who was gearing up to feature in the final for his domestic side Titans in the Momentum Cup, he was ruled out due to the injury.
Whether this injury will hamper his participation in the IPL is still not known but it is quite likely that he will be missing the early stages of the tournament.
The Protea star was supposed to lead the Bangalore-based outfit in the absence of Kohli, but the team management will now have to look for other options.
So here are five names who can lead Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Kohli and De Villiers’ absence: