Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli shared a message for the franchise fans after the management unveiled South Africa’s Faf du Plessis as their new captain for the upcoming IPL 2022 season.
Kohli had stepped down as the RCB captain in IPL 2021 and with AB de Villiers retiring from cricket, the franchise was in need of a new captain. Many had expected that Glenn Maxwell would become the next leader of the franchise after he was retained by them along with Virat Kohli and Mohammed Siraj.
However, in the IPL 2022 auction, RCB paid INR 7 crores for the services of Faf du Plessis and many speculated that the franchise had bought the former South African captain for the purpose of handing the reins of the team to him.
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And on March 12, the Royal Challengers Bangalore announced that Faf du Plessis will captain the side in a tweet on social media.
And later, RCB also shared a video message from former captain Virat Kohli, who has been with the side since 2008 and led them from 2013 to 2021, in which he said that he was happy to pass on the baton of captaincy to Faf du Plessis and called him his good friend. Kohli added that he was absolutely excited about Faf leading the RCB team in IPL 2022.
"First and foremost the most important news is that Faf is going to be the captain of RCB and I couldn't be happier to pass on the baton to a good friend. Someone that I have known well over the years. We have been in touch for many years now and he is one of the few guys I have known apart from cricket and we get along really well. So, absolutely excited for him to lead RCB. To lead this amazing franchise and to play under him," said Kohli on Twitter.
"The partnership with Faf is going to be an exciting one for RCB fans along with Maxi (Maxwell) as well and the core group that we retained and also the squad that we put together this year I think is pretty amazing. The team looks balanced and pretty strong and I can't wait to get started and to catch up with Faf and the rest of the boys as well and really looking forward to this season. I am very excited and as I said renewed energy and it is going to be an amazing season to be a part of. Cheers and see you soon," said Kohli.
"We are going to start our season pretty soon. Something which I am very excited about. As I said renewed energy. Really looking forward to this season," he concluded.
Here is the video:
