Kevin Pietersen is likely to captain Bangalore Royal Challengers for the first three weeks of this IPL season for which he is available. Pietersen will then hand over the leadership to Rahul Dravid or Mark Boucher, a team source said.
"This scenario is a very strong possibility but a final decision is yet to be taken," the source said. "Shane Warne was denied the captaincy in Australia, and look what he did in the IPL last year (Warne's Rajasthan Royals won the tournament). We expect KP will have a point to prove too with regards to captaincy, and that will only benefit the team."
Dravid, the former India captain, had led the Royal Challengers last year when the team finished seventh out of eight -- they were also tagged as a Test XI, including the likes of Jacques Kallis, and Wasim Jaffer.
This time, after Pietersen leaves for the home series against West Indies starting May 6, the team will be led by Dravid, if he is available, or Boucher. Dravid's wife is expecting their second child in the first week of May, and franchise officials are unsure whether he will be available during that period. "After Pietersen and Dravid, Boucher has been identified as a strong captaincy option," the source said. This year's IPL will run from April 10-May 24 but officials are yet to release the final schedule.
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