Why Wasn’t Virat Kohli Given RCB Captaincy? Sanjay Manjrekar Explains ‘Pressure’ Factor

Fans’ hopes to see Virat Kohli leading the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) hit brick wall as the franchise announced the appointment of Rajat Patidar, a name that is yet to become an international regular, its captain. The franchise’s call did surprise a few considering rumours of Virat’s potential return to the leadership role were doing rounds for a long time. Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, however, feels the right call was made by the franchise as it didn’t want to put additional pressure on the batter, who has already quit T20 internationals.

“I thought RCB took a very good decision. They didn’t want to put pressure on Virat Kohli by giving him the responsibility of captaincy. When someone is in the nothing-to-lose zone, you must have seen reality shows, when someone is out of the race or singing in his farewell round,” Manjrekar said on Star Sports.

Manjrekar also feels, with T20 international behind them, and leadership role also a thing in the past, both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma might go on to make the IPL 2025 season a memorable one for themselves.

“I think the best of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in recent times will be seen in this IPL. These two are big brands of Indian cricket, are together in this game,” Manjrekar added.

After the big announcement, RCB team director Mo Bobat revealed that Kohli was an option for them for the leadership role. 

Virat Kohli does not require the “captaincy title” to be in charge because of his natural penchant for leadership and it will benefit new skipper Rajat Patidar, reckons Mo Bobat, the team director of Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Patidar was on Thursday unveiled as the RCB captain ahead of IPL 2025.

“Virat was an option (for captaincy). I know that the fans would have probably leaned towards Virat in the first instance. But my point on Virat would be that Virat doesn’t need a captaincy title to lead,” Bobat said in a media interaction.

“Leadership, as we’ve all seen, is one of his strongest instincts. I think it just comes naturally to him. He leads regardless. But we’ve seen a lot of love for Rajat too,” Bobat added.

With PTI Inputs