Former India chief selector K Srikkanth opined that Virat Kohli said no to RCB captaincy in order to focus on his batting. Rajat Patidar was named the team’s new captain ahead of IPL 2025, ending speculations on the former skipper’s return to the role. Reports had earlier stated that Kohli was involved in discussions with the team management amid the leadership vacuum following Faf di Plessis’ departure.
“Virat Kohli said no because…”
In a video on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth claimed that Kohli would have said no to captaincy because he wants to focus on his batting. He reckoned that the decision to name Patidar as captain would have been taken after RCB held consultations with Kohli.
“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,” Srikkanth said
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Further, Srikkanth likened Patidar to MS Dhoni, noting that there will not be a lot of expectations from him. He cited an instance from 2007 when MSD was named the T20I captain to make his point.
“Rajat Patidar is a good choice. He has been doing well in the IPL. The good things 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,” he added.
Rajat Patidar came in to RCB in IPL 2022 as an injury replacement for Luvnith Sisodia for a base price of Rs 20 lakhs. Despite missing a full season in 2023 due to an injury, the MP batter was consistent in his performances, amassing 333 runs in 2022 and 395 runs in 2024.
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