Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), on Saturday, announced Faf du Plessis as the franchise’s new captain for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. RCB made the announcement in a special event called RCB unbox in Bengaluru.
Du Plessis will take over the baton from Virat Kohli, who had captained RCB between 2013-2021 and surrendered RCB’s captaincy at the end of the previous season. Notably, Du Plessis has never led an IPL team in his career.
After the revelation of RCB’s new captain, the official Twitter handle of the Bangalore-based franchise also shared a heartfelt message for Du Plessis from Kohli. In a video message, the former RCB captain can be seen stating that he is ‘excited’ to play under Du Plessis.
“I couldn’t be happier to pass on the baton to a good friend, someone I’ve known over the years. We’ve been in touch for many years now. He’s one of the few guys I’ve gotten to know a little bit more apart from the cricket,” said Kohli.
“My partnership with Faf is going to be exciting. The squad we’ve put together is amazing. Our team looks balanced and strong, and I can’t wait to get started,” he added.
Here is the video:
https://twitter.com/RCBTweets/status/1502606075198988292
Notably, in the 2022 auctions, Du Plessis was roped in for INR 7 Crore by RCB. So far, the 37-year-old has played 100 matches in the cash-rich league, amassing 2935 runs at a strike rate of 131.08, including 22 half-centuries.
After being chosen to lead the Challengers, Du Plessis expressed his gratitude towards the franchise and said he would do his best to live up to the expectations.
“Coming in as an outsider, I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity. It’s no small thing to trust an outsider, an overseas player, to do the job as a leader. My style in doing that is not going to be ‘my way’. I will rely heavily on the amazing experience of our domestic and international players. Having been a leader for a while, I’ve been on the journey for creating a culture it’s close to my heart,” said Du Plessis in the event.
