IPL 7: RCB retain Kohli, Gayle, de Villiers ahead of auction

Zee Media Bureau/Suyash Srivastava

New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday retained their three key players – skipper Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers ahead of the upcoming 2014 IPL auction. The franchise also named veteran Kiwi player – Daniel Vettori as their head coach and former South African speedster Allan Donald as bowling coach. Trent Woodhill was named as the RCB`s batting and fielding coach for the season. While the auctions will take place on February 12, each franchise can retain upto five players which they have to confirm before January 10. While Kohli has done exceptionally well in all forms of the game over the years, Chris Gayle`s swashbuckling play has intimidated the best of the bowlers in the IPL. On the other hand, AB de Villiers is one of the finest wicketkeeper batsmen, and his onslaught lower down the order has won several matches for RCB.