Virat Kohli returned as RCB captain for the match against Punjab Kings (Image Credit: Sportzpics)
Virat Kohli relinquished the RCB captaincy after IPL 2021 as the franchise signed Faf du Plessis in the 2022 mega auction to take over the charge of the unit.
Virat Kohli returned to captaincy duties for Royal Challengers Bangalore on a temporary basis as he led the charge of the side against Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League match on Thursday. Kohli took over the charge as Faf du Plessis was not available to field for RCB after sustaining an injury in RCB’s last match against Chennai Super Kings at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Kohli last captained RCB way back in IPL 2021 Eliminator match against Kolkata Knight Riders, however, his side ended up on the losing side.
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He relinquished the RCB captaincy after IPL 2021 as the franchise signed Faf in the 2022 mega auction to take over the charge of the unit. In his first season at RCB, Du Plessis led them to the playoffs.
The fans were excited and went into nostalgia after seeing Kohli as a captain at the toss for RCB against Punjab Kings at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali.
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Meanwhile, Kohli announced at the toss that Faf will bat for RCB and will be replaced by Vyshak Vijaykumar in the second innings while defending the target.
“Faf potentially can’t be fielding today, so he’ll be playing as an impact player, switching with Vyshak. We got to do what we wanted, we would have batted first, the pitch could get slow, some scruff marks will help the bowlers going deep into the game. Taking one game at a time, focusing on our own game, make the most of crunch situations, we haven’t done that so far in the tournament. No other changes for us,” Kohli said at the toss.
Meanwhile, Punjab Kings also missed Shikhar Dhawan for the second straight game as he failed to recover from the injury and Sam Curran continued to lead the side in his absence. While PBKS also made a couple of major changes as Liam Livingstone was included for the first time this season while Nathan Ellis replaced Kagiso Rabada.
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