Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli on Monday (March 21) joined the team’s bio-bubble ahead of the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), starting March 26.

Kohli, who relinquished RCB’s captaincy following the IPL 2021 season, will play only as a specialist batter this year. The baton has now been passed to Faf du Plessis, who was roped in by the franchise for INR 7 crore at the mega-auction last month.

After arriving in the RCB bubble, Kohli said he has joined the team this year with renewed energy.

"Wow 15 [IPL season]! It's quite unbelievable IPL has come this far and yeah [I am here with] renewed energy because I am off a lot of responsibilities and duties and life is in a very good place. We have a child now, we have a family and for me it's all about going on about life with a lot of joy and happiness and watching our child grow and doing what I love, which is playing cricket," the 33-year old said in a video posted by RCB on YouTube.

Kohli further said that the moment RCB signed Faf du Plessis at the auction, he knew that they have a proven leader for the side this year.

"I messaged him as soon as he was picked for RCB. Sounded him off a little bit about what's to come. It was made official afterwards but I knew obviously that getting Faf at auction, the plan was very clear that we needed a leader in the change room and he commands that respect," he said.

Virat Kohli also pointed that he will have to go through a mandatory quarantine despite being just 20 minutes away from his home in Mumbai. During the three-day isolation, he has a plan to watch a few shows and a lot of video calls with his wife Anushka Sharma and daughter Vamika.