Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth believes Virat Kohli didn’t take RCB’s leadership onus as he would have wanted to focus on his batting. RCB decided to appoint Rajat Patidar as their new leader for IPL 2025 and Srikkanth reckons it is a good decision.
Kohli was expected to take over RCB’s captaincy baton after the franchise didn’t retain Faf du Plessis before the auction. Furthermore, RCB could not rope in players like Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul, who all have leadership experience.
Meanwhile, Rajat Patidar has been performing consistently for RCB in the last couple of seasons. Furthermore, Patidar led Madhya Pradesh to the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024.
Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel, “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.”
“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,” said Srikkanth.
On the other hand, Kohli requested all the RCB fans to show faith in Rajat Patidar and back him in the upcoming edition.
Kohli said in a video released by RCB, “The way he has led his state team as well and the responsibility that he’s taken and has shown everyone that he has what it takes to lead this amazing franchise and I just wish him all the very best and I would request all the fans to show him absolute support, get right behind him and know that he will always and always do what’s best for the team, what’s best for this franchise.”
RCB will begin their IPL campaign against defending champions KKR on March 22 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
