"Virat's a very hard man to replace" - Mike Hesson reveals how they settled on Faf du Plessis as RCB captain

Royal Challengers Bangalore's Director of Operations Mike Hesson has opened up on how the franchise settled on Faf du Plessis as Virat Kohli's successor. Hesson revealed that the more they discussed the captaincy position, the more Du Plessis became clear as a choice.

With Kohli stepping down as captain after IPL 2021, RCB appointed Du Plessis for the job after acquiring the veteran South African for INR 7 crores ahead of the 2022 edition. The 38-year-old has led them in 21 games so far, winning 11 of them. He has also formed a formidable partnership with Kohli.

Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, the 48-year-old admitted that Kohli's strong presence in the dressing room made him incredibly hard to replace. However, he recalled how Du Plessis had all they needed as captain, especially bringing in experience and quality.

"Virat's a very hard man to replace - and to be captain when your ex-captain is still there is incredibly difficult. You can't be a developing captain. We thought we had to have an established captain with a lot of those core experiences. We settled relatively late on Faf, but we thought he ticked a lot of our boxes: he was highly experienced and still a high-quality player."

The former New Zealand coach stated that du Plessis shared a good bond with both overseas and domestic cricketers, making him even more an obvious candidate.

"He was almost a "plug and play". He knew Virat and Maxwell very well; they had a great relationship. He had a reputation for working equally well with overseas and domestic players, which is critical - to have an overseas player that comes in [as captain] and doesn't have that empathy towards how a team works could have been a disaster."

Speaking of Glenn Maxwell's consistency as a batter since coming to RCB, Hesson reckons that additional responsibilities have helped the Aussie cricketer thrive. He reckons Maxwell's competitive spirit makes him and Kohli partner well together.

"We gave him responsibility. We said, "We actually think you're a high-quality batter, rather than just a finisher", and he's thrived on that responsibility. We know he is a wonderful player of spin but we also know that his game's developed hugely against pace. Maxi is a great team man. Hugely passionate, which I like. I like that competitive spirit. That's why him and Virat get on really well."

With 513 runs in 15 games, Maxwell was RCB's highest run-getter in the 2021 edition. The Victorian has 258 runs in eight games at 36.25 in IPL 2023.

"We have a lot of confidence in the rest of the batting group" - Mike Hesson

Mike Hesson. (Image Credits: Twitter)

When asked about the lack of impact outside of RCB's top three, Hesson feels playing most of their games at home so far have meant limited opportunities for the middle-order batters. However, he backed them to step up moving forward.

"We saw that last year: our top order wasn't as successful, and the likes of Shahbaz and DK held our team together. Lomror was very good towards the end of last year too, and different players stood up to get us through the playoffs. This year we've played six of our first eight at Chinnaswamy, which is very much a top-order type of surface - if you get in, you cash in - so therefore, the opportunities for the middle order are limited. We have a lot of confidence in the rest of the batting group, that when the opportunity arises, they'll grab it."

With four wins and as many losses, RCB are fifth in the IPL 2023 standings.