IPL 2022: RCB Still Need Virat Kohli's Passion, Even Though He's Not Captain: Faf du Plessis

Virat Kohli may have handed over the captaincy, but the Royal Challengers Bangalore club will need his enthusiasm at every stage of their IPL campaign, according to newly chosen skipper Faf du Plessis.

The four-time IPL champion for CSK was announced as RCB captain on Saturday, taking over from their longest-serving captain, Virat Kohli, who took over before the 2013 season.

“Although he (Kohli) is not really the captain, the passion he brings to himself and the squad is crucial for us.” On the sidelines of the RCB captain-launch event, Du Plessis said in a virtual media interaction, “We’ll attempt to exploit that as best we can.”

Kohli’s captaincy, according to the former South African captain, has ushered in an era in Indian cricket.

“His (Kohli’s) achievement as a cricket player has been probably one of the greatest, so big respect for what he’s done not just with the bat in his hand but also in terms of captaincy, he’s revolutionized Indian cricket,” Du Plessis said.

 Faf du Plessis stated that there is no one who can replace AB De Villiers:

The squad will be without AB de Villiers, one of the greatest batsmen of the modern era, who announced his resignation from across all forms of cricket last November, just ahead of the IPL retention.

“There are a lot of big shoes to fill. No cricketer will ever be able to fill AB’s shoes. That pair of shoes is far too large. Even though I have enormous feet, I’ll never be able to match AB’s accomplishment. “I wouldn’t even attempt,” Du Plessis remarked of his old South African teammate.

RCB Squad for IPL 2022: Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Faf du Plessis (c), Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Josh Hazlewood, Shahbaz Ahmed, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Sherfane Rutherford, Jason Behrendorff, Suyash Prabhudessai, Chama Milind, Aneeshwar Gautam, Karn Sharma, David Willey, Luvnith Sisodia, Siddharth Kaul

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