"Virat Kohli will not captain RCB again" - Daniel Vettori ahead of IPL 2022

Virat Kohli had taken Royal Challengers Bangalore to the final of the IPL in the 2016 season.
Virat Kohli had taken Royal Challengers Bangalore to the final of the IPL in the 2016 season.

Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) spinner Daniel Vettori believes star batsman Virat Kohli will not be named the franchise's captain again. Kohli had announced before the second half of IPL 2021 that he would be stepping down from the RCB captaincy after the season ended.

The franchise did try their level best to bring in someone like Shreyas Iyer, but they now have options like Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell to fill in Kohli's shoes.

Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Daniel Vettori explained why it is right not to go back to Kohli as the IPL team's captain. He opined:

"No [Virat Kohli will not be the RCB captain again]. I think it is as simple as that. I don't think that ever works, let alone in franchise cricket or international cricket. Once the captain is moved on, the right thing is for him to move on."

Vettori claimed that the franchise will have a strong leadership group with experienced players like du Plessis, Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik and Kohli in the mix. With Maxwell not available for the first few games. the former Kiwi captain thinks Du Plessis can perform captaincy duties. He added:

"I think they will look at Kohli, Maxwell and Du Plessis as the leadership group and even Dinesh Karthik. I think Faf will step in for Maxwell. But if they win the first three games, maybe they will continue on with him."

Maxwell is a long-term captaincy option for RCB: Daniel Vettori

Daniel Vettori feels Glenn Maxwell is the only viable long-term option to be RCB captain. Maxwell has captaincy experience in T20 franchise cricket, having led the Melbourne Stars, and Vettori feels that experience will help him in the IPL.

On this, the former Kiwi all-rounder stated:

"I think Maxwell is a shorter long term. Three years is a long-term time in the IPL. They will look at Maxwell as the three-year cycle and hopefully he continues to play as he did in the last IPL. They will factor that in that he will be the leader for three years."

The Challengers will begin their IPL 2022 campaign against the Punjab Kings at the DY Patil Stadium on 27th March.

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Edited by Anantaajith Raghuraman