IPL 2021: Dale Steyn And Parthiv Patel Back Virat Kohli's Decision To Step Down As RCB Skipper

Former South Africa bowler Dale Steyn said that it is the right time for RCB skipper Virat Kohli to leave captaincy from IPL.

A day ahead of RCB’s game against KKR, Kohli announced that he would quit the leadership role for RCB after leading them nearly for nine seasons.

It is the right time for Virat Kohli to focus on his batting: Dale Steyn

Steyn and Parthiv Patel both have played under Kohli for RCB and during a discussion between the former international cricketers, the South African said that Kohli has always been involved in the key decisions of the team.

“You see the way that he plays, he’s involved in everything, whether he’s in Test matches when he’s standing at first slip or even if he’s at the cover, he wants the ball immediately when it goes to the keeper, he always wants to be involved. But I think sometimes now in this COVID time maybe as Parthiv referred to bubble-life, his family that he’s got,” Steyn said on Star Sports. 

“It’s a lot of responsibility — and playing for RCB before — you see Virat, he’s in every advert and every meeting; he’s just so busy. So maybe it is the right time for him to just put this aside and focus purely on his batting,” he added.

I think Virat Kohli looked more emotional than happy: Parthiv Patel

Kohli has been with RCB since its inception and has also pledged to play his last IPL game for the same franchise. Parthiv felt Kohli seemed emotional and called his journey a rollercoaster one.

“I think he looked more emotional than happy. I think when you’re playing for one franchise for so many years, you get that emotional connect which was there in RCB. I think RCB actually invested in Virat Kohli’s talent in 2008 and then showed a lot of trust in him as well because if you look at his and RCB’s journey, it has been a rollercoaster one,” Parthiv said. 

“But yeah, he might be relieved because see moving around from one bubble to another can take a load on you and he has spoken about the workload and intensity, which he plays with. I think every practice session, every match session or gym session, he does it with full intensity and that’s something I’m sure he must’ve thought about,” he added.

Kohli has led RCB in 133 IPL matches and won 60 of them while losing 66 games.

Also Read: IPL 2021: Parthiv Patel Explains Why Virat Kohli Missed That Ball Against Prasidh Krishna