Watch: RCB retires jerseys of de Villiers & Gayle after Kohli unveils team's new kit ahead of IPL 2023

Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday retired the jersey numbers of AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle, two of the stalwarts of the franchise, while they also unveiled their new kit after practicing in front of a packed Chinnaswamy stadium.

The players took a lap of honour in front of the fans and also threw autographed cricket balls at them.

The likes of Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell looked the happiest as they joined the celebrations with their teammates.

"Lap of Honour, Hall of Fame, Retiring jerseys of AB and Chris, Unveiling the jersey for #IPL2023, practising in front of 20000+ fans, Music Performances and more… #RCBUnbox presented by Walkers and Co. in front of our home crowd was a massive hit!" RCB tweeted.

ABD 17, Chris Gayle 333 retired by RCB

AB de Villiers wore the number 17 on his jersey during his playing career at RCB while Gayle had 333 printed on the back of his kit. Both numbers will be retired by RCB.

This year the team will be returning to the Chinnaswamy for their home games after a gap of three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

New RCB jersey unveiled

The franchise hosted the RCB Unbox 2.0 for the fans during which Kohli and du Plessis also unveiled their new jersey. They also announced Qatar Airways as the team's new title sponsor.

"We are thrilled to announce and unveil a long term association with @qatarairways as the main principal partner of RCB," the franchise tweeted.

The franchise also announced that they now have 10 million followers on Instagram.

"Thank you for your unwavering loyalty and for being the best fans in the world. You are the heartbeat of RCB!"

Royal Challengers Bangalore will begin their IPL 2023 campaign by hosting five-time champions Mumbai Indians on April 2.