'Virat Kohli did not want to captain RCB': New recruit clears air on captaincy saga, says Rajat Patidar 'best option'

Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar during the RCB Unbox event (X/RCBTweets)

Virat Kohli is one of the prominent faces from the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) camp. The talismanic cricketer has led the franchise previously and continues to represent the outfit despite stepping down from the leadership role. He was appointed as the full-time skipper in 2013 and after serving in the capacity till 2021, Kohli passed the mantle to Faf du Plessis, who then took charge till the 2024 season.

However, with the franchise deciding not to retain the former Proteas cricketer or even go after him at the mega auction held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, speculations were rife of Kohli returning to the helm of things. However, RCB, which enjoys a massive fan following, passed on the leadership role to middle-order batter Rajat Patidar with an eye on the future.

RCB's new recruit and explosive wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, who was acquired by the franchise for Rs 11 crore at the auction, was asked if he was aware about the franchise's decision beforehand. The gloveman said no such information was communicated to him but he was certain that Kohli was no longer looked as a captain as per his observation.

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"I got to know about Rajat Patidar becoming the captain when everyone else got to know. But when you have been around the game for a while you understand the flow of things. Virat bhai did not want to captain the side," said Jitesh during an interaction on the CricXtasy podcast.

Further weighing-in on the subject Jitesh added: "I don't know why he did not want to be captain. I am not in the management side of things; when I am, I will let you know. But he has not been captaining in the last 2-3 years, so it felt that he would not do it this year as well. So, I think Rajat was the best option," he added.

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Andy Flower, head coach of RCB, had highlighted three qualities of Patidar, which he felt made the 31-year-old the best choice for the position. "Calmness and simplicity, he cares about the people around him, and stubbornness," were the three qualities pointed out by Flower during the RCB captaincy announcement event last month.