IPL 2021: Dale Steyn picks former RCB player to succeed Virat Kohli as captain

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli announced ahead of the resumption of Indian Premier League(IPL) 2021 in UAE, that he will hang his boots as the captain of RCB following the completion of the season. His announcement came days after he announced that the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will also be his last assignment as a captain for India in T20I matches. South African pacer Dale Steyn who played for RCB in five IPL seasons has suggested that former RCB batter KL Rahul should replace Kohli as the skipper of RCB.

KL Rahul made his IPL debut for RCB in 2013 and played four seasons with the team, before moving to Punjab Kings(PBKS) in 2018. He became the captain of PBKS in 2020 and has won 10 matches out of the 23 he has featured as a captain. Meanwhile, Steyn expressed his thoughts on whom RCB choose as their new captain after Virat Kohli. While talking to ESPN Cricinfo, Steyn said that if RCB is looking for a player who can be the long-term skipper of the team, RCB should look for individuals within their boundaries. He added, “The name I've got is an ex-Bangalore player. It's KL Rahul. I just have a feeling he is going to return back to Bangalore in next year's auction." 

KL Rahul has played 39 matches for RCB

During his time as an RCB player, Rahul had a good record while batting at the top-order for RCB. He played 39 matches for RCB from 2013 to 2016 and scored 725 runs for the team. However, he was roped in by PBKS in 2018 for a whopping price of INR 11 crore at the IPL player auctions and justified his selection by amassing 659 runs in the season with the help of six half-centuries. Over the years, he has become the best performing batsman for PBKS as he consistently scores runs for the team. In his IPL career till now, Rahul has scored 3048 runs in 90 matches. In the current season, he has scored 401 runs in nine matches for PBKS. He was last played during PBKS' match against Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2021, scoring a run-a-ball 21.

Image: AP/Instagram/@royalchallengersbangalore/BCCI