RCB suffered a crushing nine-wicket defeat against KKR in their first game of IPL 2021 second phase.
After the thrashing, a report published in IANS suggests that Virat Kohli could be removed as RCB’s captain mid-way through the ongoing UAE-leg of IPL.
It was only last Sunday (September 19) that Kohli announced his decision to step down as RCB’s skipper after the end of the IPL 2021 season.
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“Look at the way he was playing against Kolkata Knight Riders. Just clueless! It seems he is struggling big time right now. There are chances that he could be removed mid-way through the season. It has happened earlier also with other teams — like with Dinesh Karthik in KKR and David Warner in Sunrisers Hyderabad, among others.
"They were either removed or they stepped down mid-way. So it can happen in RCB as well… I have this feeling after watching yesterday’s match. One more bad game and you can see a change in RCB captaincy right away," one former India cricketer, on condition of anonymity, told IANS.
RCB got bowled out for a paltry 92 in 19 overs against KKR. It was a listless batting performance from the Virat Kohli-led side as none of them managed to touch the 30-run mark. Kohli scored 5 off 4 balls before being trapped LBW by Prasidh Krishna.
In case, Virat Kohli gets sacked then AB de Villiers will probably be the apt candidate for the captaincy as he is respected by everyone in the dressing room. But there are also chances that the 37-year-old might not accept the offer.
According to the report, wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s name is also doing the rounds for being a senior member of the team. Chahal has also been the leading wicket-taker for RCB in the IPL, taking 125 wickets from 106 games.
Young opener Devdutt Padikkal too is in the race, following the trend seen in recent times of appointing young captains such as Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson. The Karnataka lad was RCB’s top run-getter last season and also leading the run-scorer chart in the IPL 2021 so far.
(With IANS inputs)