From one leader to another! Former South Africa captain Faf Du Plessis has been announced as the new captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore for the upcoming IPL 2022 season. Du Plessis now takes over the reins from Virat Kohli, who decided to step down from the captaincy of RCB at the end of the last season.
Faf du Plessis, who was roped in by the RCB for INR 7 crore in the IPL 2022 Mega-Auction, became the seventh to captain the Royal Challengers, with Rahul Dravid, Kevin Pietersen, Anil Kumble, Daniel Vettori, Kohli, and Shane Watson having led the Bangalore-based franchise previously. Among them, Virat has captained the RCB side in the most number of matches — 140 matches with 64 wins, 69 losses, three ties, and four no results, with a win percentage of 48.16.
Besides Faf, the team management of the RCB had three options for captaincy — Australia’s Glenn Maxwell, India’s Dinesh Karthik or they could have re-appointed Virat Kohli as their captain. However, du Plessis’ international captaincy experience helped him in getting the nod in the end.
Faf has also been consistently brilliantly in the Indian Premier League. He ended up as the second leading run-scorer in the previous edition of the IPL playing for Chennai Super Kings. It will be interesting to see if he can win RCB their maiden IPL trophy.
Meanwhile, former captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Virat Kohli left a special message for Faf. Moments after Faf was announced as the new captain, RCB shared a video of Kohli’s special message for RCB’s new captain. He said:
“Few updates for you guys. Our season is going to start pretty soon something which I am excited for. As I said, renewed energy, really looking forward to this season. But the more important news, Faf is going to be our new captain. And I couldn’t be more happier to pass on the baton to a good friend, whom I’ve known very well over the years. We have been in touch for many years now and he is one of the few guys whom I’ve got to know outside of cricket.”
He added: “So absolutely excited for him to lead RCB, and to play under him. The partnership with Faf is going to be exciting for RCB fans along with Maxi. The squad we put together is pretty amazing, balanced and strong.”
“Happy to pass on the baton to Faf! Excited to partner with him and play under him” – A message from @imVkohli for our new captain @faf1307. ?#PlayBold #RCBUnbox #UnboxTheBold #ForOur12thMan #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/lHMClDAZox
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) March 12, 2022
