Virat Kohli stepped down as captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the end of IPL 2021 last year and is set to play under another captain for the franchise for the first time since 2013. Kohli, who captained the RCB for eight seasons from 2013 to 2021, is the only player in the league to have represented only one franchise so far in his career.
Kohli was made permanent captain of RCB in 2013 and nearly inspired the team to their first IPL title in 2016. However, RCB lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final and missed out on the trophy. Kohli has been replaced by former South African skipper Faf du Plessis as the new RCB captain ahead of IPL 2022.
Du Plessis was signed by RCB for a sum of Rs 7 crore (INR 70 million) at the IPL 2022 mega auction last month and will lead a team for the first time in his IPL career. Du Plessis played under MS Dhoni in his former team Chennai Super Kings and won the IPL title twice as a player.
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Veteran Indian spinner R Ashwin, who will play for the Rajasthan Royals this year in the IPL, believes RCB made the right decision in appointing Du Plessis as captain, but the franchise could re-sign Kohli next year. Ashwin believes RCB handed the leadership role to the experienced Du Plessis only to give Kohli a break and relieve him of some responsibilities.
“Faf looks more like the end of his IPL career. Maybe he has two or three years left. And they made him the captain, which is a pretty good move. He brings a lot of experience and in fact he himself said we can see a bit of the MS Dhoni touch in his captaincy skills,” Ashwin said in a video on his Youtube channel.
“I think since Virat Kohli has been under a lot of stress as captain in recent years, this year will be like a break for him and they could make him captain next year I guess,” he added.
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It remains to be seen whether Kohli, who also vacated the All India captaincy, will return as RCB captain next year. Kohli has led RCB in a total of 140 games so far and has 64 wins to his name. RCB are yet to win their first IPL title and are hoping for a change of fortune this time around.
