IPL 2022: 3 reasons why Virat Kohli as RCB skipper makes more sense than ever
Virat Kohli stepped down from captaincy duties of his IPL franchise, RCB, at the end of the 2021 season to manage his workload and focus more on his batting. He soon followed it by handing over the national team's T20I captaincy duties to his former deputy, Rohit Sharma.
While Kohli seemed interested in continuing his stint for the ODI and Test side as captain, situations and circumstances forced him to give up those as well. In the recently-concluded IPL auction, RCB were expected to bid hard in order to acquire a young captain who could take the baton from Kohli for the long term.
However, that did not happen and left RCB with three potential leaders in Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis - all of whom are around their mid-30s.
While many believe that Faf du Plessis is likely to be the new skipper, him being 37 years old might be an obstacle. While he is an experienced campaigner, du Plessis doesn't have many more years of cricket left in him.
Glenn Maxwell, on the other hand, may still have a lot to prove in terms of his consistency in the cash-rich IPL before he is given the captaincy.
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Given that Virat Kohli is a player with a massive amount of captaincy experience under his belt, we look at three reasons why he should continue to lead RCB in the upcoming IPL season.
#3 Kohli has captained RCB for nine seasons now
There's possibly no one who understands the RCB team culture better than Virat Kohli. Being a part of the team since the first IPL edition in 2008, the 33-year-old has seen highs and lows as part of the franchise.
Having been at the helm of team decisions for over 9 years now, Kohli's insights and leadership qualities remain invaluable to RCB and the youngsters in the team.
#2 Kohli has a lot of cricket left in him
Virat Kohli started his IPL career when he was only 20 years old and took over RCB captaincy at the tender age of just 25. Given his cricketing accomplishments, it's hard to believe that Kohli is still only 33 years old and is fit enough to play international-level cricket for another five to six years.
RCB's other leadership options include Glenn Maxwell and the newly signed Faf du Plessis - both of whom are older than Virat. Even if they are given the captaincy baton, it will be difficult for them to lead the franchise for a long period.
#1 Kohli may be open to RCB captaincy after stepping down from all other formats
When Virat stepped down from RCB's captaincy, he was still the Indian captain across the three formats. Situations, however, have changed ever since. With Kohli no longer being a captain in any format of the game, he may be open to reconsidering his captaincy future with the RCB franchise.
Since he has many years of cricket left in him, Virat may go ahead and decide to withdraw his resignation for the betterment of RCB. Given that he is still considered one of the fittest and most experienced leaders in the camp, the franchise think-tank may request Virat to continue leading the side until they find a suitable young replacement.