Shrikkanth On Why Virat Kohli Is Not RCB Captain: Former Indian Cricket Team batter Krishnamachari Srikkanth reckons that legendary batter Virat Kohli would have declined the offer to be the captain of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru franchise in IPL 2025 to focus on his batting.
Earlier in the week, RCB announced that 31-year-old batter Rajat Patidar will be the captain of the franchise in the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League. He will replace Faf du Plessis, who led the side over the past three seasons and was bought by the Chennai Super Kings in the mega auction for IPL 2025.
While Patidar is proving to be a popular choice for captaincy among the fans of the franchise, several fans and experts are also wondering whether Virat Kohli was approached with the opportunity to be the skipper and what was his response.
Kohli has been the longest-serving captain of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, taking over the reins of the team in 2013 and leading them all the way to 2021. During this time, while the team made it to only one final, they did become one of the most popular teams in the league, seeing that the Indian Cricket Team captain was leading this franchise.
Kohli is also the most loyal player to RCB; playing since the first season in 2008, the 36-year-old has played 252 matches for the team and scored 8004 runs, the most for any batter in the IPL.
Shrikkanth On Why Virat Kohli Is Not RCB Captain
So why did he not become the franchise captain once again? Former Indian batter and 1983 World Cup winner Krishnamachari Srikkanth seems to have an answer.
In a recent video on his YouTube channel regarding the RCB captaincy situation, Kris claimed that Virat would have refused this opportunity to focus on his batting.
“I think Virat would have said no to the captaincy. He would have said ‘, I want to focus on batting’. I think all this must have happened in consultation with Virat Kohli,” he said.
The legendary Indian opener also went on to say that Patidar is an excellent choice for the new RCB captain, saying,
“Rajat Patidar is a good choice. He has been doing well in the IPL. The good thing is he will not have a lot of expectations. When we appointed Dhoni in 2007 as the T20 World Cup captain, not a lot was expected of him and the team. It’s a bit like that…Expectations from Rajat Patidar as a captain are not high. He will take his own calls. He will consult Virat Kohli, who will be a guiding force.”
Not only has Rajat Patidar lit up the IPL with his performances in the 2022 and 2024 seasons, but he has also made his India debut in the meantime. Most recently, he captained Madhya Pradesh to a runners-up finish in the 2024/25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
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