Faf du Plessis takes the RCB captaincy, a refreshed squad lines up for the IPL 2022 opener against Punjab Kings

The captaincy handover

On March 26, 2022, the day before the new season opened, Wisden published the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad file for IPL 2022 and confirmed the headline move: Faf du Plessis would lead RCB into the fifteenth edition of the league. The decision ended a captaincy question that had been open since the back half of IPL 2021, when Virat Kohli stepped down mid-season and announced he would continue playing for the franchise without the leadership tag. Kohli was clear at the time, and the Wisden file repeats the framing: he intended to keep going as a player until his last IPL game. The captaincy, on the other hand, would sit with du Plessis, the former South Africa captain brought in through the mega auction that preceded the season.

The handover matters less for the announcement itself than for what it signalled about the franchise's batting hierarchy. A du Plessis-Kohli opening combination had been discussed through the auction window; the captaincy decision made it the most likely starting plan. Faf du Plessis had captained Chennai Super Kings to a title in IPL 2021 and brought a calmer dressing-room voice than RCB's previous leader, who had carried the franchise through its longest run of playoff appearances without converting any of them into a trophy. The Wisden file lists the change of leadership as a settled fact going into the season opener, not as a contested call between coach and ownership.

The retained core

Three names were retained ahead of the mega auction: Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and Mohammad Siraj. The choice reflected what the franchise valued most: an anchor batter who had carried the side for a decade, a middle-order accelerator in Maxwell who had produced his best IPL season in 2021, and a fast bowler in Siraj whose India workload was beginning to translate into consistent franchise form. The retained list was thin by design. The mega auction was the main vehicle for squad construction, and the Wisden file treats it as the moment that defined RCB's 2022 squad shape rather than the retentions.

For readers tracking the franchise's longer arc, the retained core is also the thinnest bridge between RCB 2021 and RCB 2022. AB de Villiers, who had been part of every RCB campaign since 2008, was already out of the picture by the time the 2022 season began: he had announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in late 2021, and the Wisden file carries that note without elaboration. The 2022 squad was, structurally, a new-look side: a South African captain, three retentions, a long Indian auction intake, and a seven-name overseas list that included four bowling options and two batters.

The Indian auction intake

The Wisden file lists twelve Indian players bought in at the auction. The headline names were Harshal Patel, Dinesh Karthik, and Shahbaz Ahmad. Harshal Patel had been the highest wicket-taker of IPL 2021 with the franchise and came back through the auction rather than retention, which made his return a deliberate rather than a default choice. Dinesh Karthik brought wicketkeeping and a finishing role that RCB had been hunting for since AB de Villiers' exit. Shahbaz Ahmad was a left-arm spin-bat allrounder who gave the side a Powerplay bowling option and a lower-order batting alternative in the same slot.

The remainder of the Indian intake spread across roles. Anuj Rawat was a young wicketkeeper-batter brought in as a long-term project at the top of the order. Akash Deep added seam-bowling depth from Bengal. Mahipal Lomror, Suyash Prabhudessai, Aneeshwar Gautam, and Chama Milind were younger batting and seam-bowling options rounded out across the squad. Karn Sharma and Siddharth Kaul were the two frontline Indian spinners on the list alongside Shahbaz Ahmad, giving the side a finger-spin complement to the wrist-spin option Wanindu Hasaranga would provide in the overseas slot. Luvnith Sisodia completed the Indian intake as a backup wicketkeeper option.

The shape of the Indian intake matters because it set the seam-spin balance RCB would carry into the season. With Hasaranga, Karn Sharma, and Shahbaz Ahmad available as spin options and only Harshal Patel and Mohammad Siraj as specialist seamers, the franchise was structurally tilted toward a finger-and-wrist spin middle phase. The Wisden file does not make this tactical point explicitly, but the squad list makes it visible to anyone reading the depth chart.

The overseas seam and spin

Seven overseas names were bought in through the auction. Faf du Plessis, the new captain, was the senior batting option and the most experienced T20 franchise captain on the list. Wanindu Hasaranga, the Sri Lanka leg-spinner, had emerged as the most sought-after T20 bowling option of the 2021 cycle and provided the wrist-spin match-up the side had lacked since Yuzvendra Chahal's exit. Josh Hazlewood was the experienced new-ball seamer, brought in to lead the Powerplay bowling alongside Mohammad Siraj.

The remaining four overseas signings covered the middle-order batting, the seam-bowling depth, and the all-round options. Finn Allen was a New Zealand top-order batter brought in for middle-order flexibility. Sherfane Rutherford added West Indies power to the lower order. Jason Behrendorff and David Willey were the two left-arm seam-bowling options: Behrendorff as a Powerplay new-ball option, Willey as a batting-bowling allrounder who could slot into multiple roles depending on conditions.

The overseas list had one notable absence. AB de Villiers, who had been part of every RCB squad since 2008, had announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in late 2021. The Wisden file references that retirement without dwelling on it, but for readers tracking the franchise's identity, the absence was the most consequential squad fact of the cycle. RCB 2022 was a side that had to construct its middle order without the player who had held the position for over a decade. The du Plessis-Maxwell-Karthik middle-order structure was the answer the franchise settled on.

The March 27 opener against Punjab Kings

The Wisden file confirms that RCB began IPL 2022 with a fixture against Punjab Kings on March 27. The match was a Group B league-stage opener, the first of fourteen group-stage fixtures the side would play before the playoff cut. The Punjab Kings fixture carried extra weight for two reasons: it was du Plessis' first competitive game as RCB captain, and it was the franchise's first outing without AB de Villiers in the middle order since IPL 2011.

For readers tracking the season's tactical arc, the opener was also the first read on how RCB's Powerplay combination would actually look. The du Plessis-Kohli opening pair was the most likely starting plan, with Maxwell at three and Dinesh Karthik at five or six. The bowling configuration was less settled, with Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Siraj, and Hazlewood were the likely four, with Shahbaz Ahmad and David Willey competing for the fifth seam-bowling slot depending on conditions. The Wisden file presents the opener as a confirmed fixture but does not commit to a final XI, which is normal for a published squad file the day before the match.

The opener also served as a soft public launch for the du Plessis era. The franchise had spent the back end of 2021 and the early weeks of 2022 reshaped around him: the captaincy, the squad depth, the batting order, and the bowling combination all flowed from the decision to name him leader. March 27 was the first time those decisions had to survive a competitive game rather than an auction-room whiteboard.

Group B and the league-stage map

The Wisden file confirms that RCB were placed in Group B alongside Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings, Gujarat Titans, and Chennai Super Kings. The group structure reflected the IPL 2022 expansion to ten teams and the corresponding two-group format the league used for that cycle. Two sides from each group advanced to the playoff stage, with the structure designed to make every league-stage fixture within a group count double. Once for the points table and once for the net run rate tiebreakers that often decided playoff qualification.

The Group B draw put RCB in the same pool as the previous season's champions, Chennai Super Kings, and the league's new entrant, Gujarat Titans. For readers tracking the league's competitive map, the group draw was a meaningful constraint. Two of the four playoff places would be claimed by teams from Group A and two from Group B, and the head-to-head fixtures between RCB and the other four Group B sides would account for eight of the fourteen league-stage matches. The Wisden file lists the group placement without commentary, but the squad and the group draw together define the tactical frame for the season.

The support staff and the front office

The Wisden file lists RCB's support staff in full. Mike Hesson held the Director of Cricket Operations role. Sanjay Bangar was the Head Coach, having joined the franchise ahead of the 2022 cycle after a long tenure with the India batting group. Sridharan Sriram held the combined Batting and Spin Bowling Coach role. Adam Griffith was the Bowling Coach, and Malolan Rangarajan combined Head of Scouting with Fielding Coach duties. Basu Shankar ran the Strength and Conditioning programme, with Evan Speechly as Team Physio and Navneeta Gautam as Sports Massage Therapist. Prathmesh Mishra was listed as Chairman of RCB, with Rajesh Menon as Vice President and Head of RCB. The list also named Nikhil Sosale as Head of Business Partnerships, Soumyadeep Pyne as Team Manager, and Ajith Ramamurthy as Head of Content and Digital.

For readers who track how franchise structures change between cycles, the Bangar appointment was the most consequential support-staff addition of the cycle. Bangar had spent the previous decade as India's batting coach and brought a Test-match preparation vocabulary that RCB had historically not leaned into. The combined Spin Bowling Coach responsibility given to Sridharan Sriram pointed to the franchise's intent to lean on spin as a primary middle-phase weapon, a direction that the Hasaranga signing reinforced.

The shadow of the AB de Villiers exit

AB de Villiers announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in late 2021. The Wisden file treats the retirement as background context rather than as a focal point of the 2022 preview, but for any reader who has tracked the franchise since the late 2000s, the absence is the structural fact that defines the cycle. RCB had built its middle-order identity around de Villiers for over a decade. His finishing role, his 360-degree shot range, and his capacity to absorb pressure at the death were the through-line of three title-contending campaigns. Without him, the franchise had to construct a new middle-order design from scratch.

The 2022 squad list points to the design the franchise chose: du Plessis at the top with Kohli, Maxwell at three, and Dinesh Karthik as the designated finisher in the lower middle order. It is a different shape from the de Villiers era, with a deeper batting order but less improvisational range. The tactical implication is straightforward: RCB 2022 had to win more of its phases by structure and less by individual brilliance, and the squad was built to support that read. The Wisden file does not editorialise this point, but it sits behind every named signing in the auction list.

For readers tracking franchise identity across cycles, the 2022 RCB squad is the most consequential rebuild the franchise has made since IPL 2018, when the side returned to the playoff stage after three seasons outside it. The du Plessis captaincy, the auction-heavy Indian intake, the wrist-spin focus, and the absence of de Villiers combine into a side that is recognisably RCB in colour and history but structurally unlike any RCB side since the late 2000s. The March 27 opener against Punjab Kings was the first game of that new identity under match conditions.

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru hub

For the latest on the current Royal Challengers Bengaluru squad, recent form, tactical identity, and leading performers, the franchise hub lives at the IPL teams index. The hub tracks every franchise's current season, with the same squad-availability, form, and tactical structure that the Wisden file applied retrospectively to IPL 2022.