Fans’ hopes to see Virat Kohli at the helm at RCB hit a brick wall as the team announced the appointment of Rajat Patidar, a name not yet an international regular, as the captain. The franchise’s call had surprised a few due to the long-in-the-works rumors named Virat’s potential return to captains’roles. However, the way former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar looks at it, that’s just the correct decision from the franchise not to put additional pressure on an already overburdened batter who’s retired from T20 internationals.
“I thought it was a very good decision taken by RCB. To not further pile up pressure on Virat Kohli by putting him in batter under the captaincy role. When he is delivering absolutely nothing to the performance of the team, it is like that reality show in which someone is out of the race or in the singing round that features a farewell performance,” said Manjrekar on Star Sports.
Before this modest announcement, team director Mo Bobat said Kohli was on their list of options.
Now, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma might make for a memorable IPL 2025 season as such, considering leadership roles behind them and with T20 internationals gone.
“I think we will see the best of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the IPL. These two are big brands of Indian cricket, together in this,” Manjrekar added.
Mo Bobat, team director of Royal Challengers Bangalore, believes that Virat Kohli does not need the “captaincy title” to take charge such is his innate love for leadership, and that will only benefit new captain Rajat Patidar. Patidar was unveiled on Thursday as the RCB captain for IPL 2025.
“Virat was an option (for captaincy). I know the fans would have probably gone with Virat in the first instant. But my point on Virat would be that Virat doesn’t need a captaincy title to lead,” Bobat told a media interaction.
“Leadership is, in fact, one of those strongest instincts of his. It is pretty much an inherent quality for him. He leads anyhow. But we have seen a lot of love for Rajat too,” Bobat added.
