Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have announced Faf du Plessis as their new captain for the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Faf succeeds Virat Kohli as the new skipper of the franchise and RCB fans would hope he can lead the side to their first IPL title. Back in 2014, Virat Kohli took charge of the team from Daniel Vettori, who would later go on to become the head coach. In 2016, the Challengers played the final under the leadership of Kohli but lost to the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Kohli decided to relinquish captaincy duties last year to focus on his batting. 

The franchise is currently holding the RCB Unbox event in Bengaluru where they announced du Plessis as the new captain as well as unveiled their jersey for the IPL 2022 season. A massive crowd turned up at Museum Road on Church Street to cheer for their team as well as take part in the festivities. Dinesh Karthik, Faf du Plessis, Harshal Patel, Shahbaz Ahmed, Luvnith Sisodia and Aneeshwar Gautam joined the RCB Unbox event. 

Virat Kohli shared a message for the new skipper. 'I am really excited to play under Faf Du Plessis, can't wait to have the partnership along with him,' Kohli said. 

RCB legend AB de Villiers also wished Faf after he became the captain. 'I am so happy for Faf Du Plessis, there was no doubt for me who was the captain when they picked Faf Du Plessis the auction,' ABD commented in a video message. 

Faf du Plessis is new RCB captain

In the auction, RCB shelled out INR 7 crores for former South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis. The veteran was a part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who won the title last season. He was also second in the list of leading run-scorers last time. Although he didn’t lead the team, he has a fair amount of experience while leading the Proteas national team. RCB would hope he can continue his form for RCB as they look for a IPL title. 

Prior to the second leg of IPL 2021 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Virat Kohli said that he would be relinquishing captaincy after the end of the season. Last year, former South Africa batter AB de Villiers also announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. It meant that Challengers had to find a new skipper ahead of the 2022 edition of the tournament.

Prior to the mega auction that took place on February 12 and 13, RCB retained Kohli, Australia’s Glenn Maxwell and young India pacer Mohammed Siraj.

RCB also roped in Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik at a price of INR 5.50 crores. Karthik has prior experience of captaining in the IPL. The Tamil Nadu-born led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the playoffs in the 2018 edition of the tournament.

After leading in 2019, Karthik let Eoin Morgan take charge of KKR’s captaincy midway through the 2020 edition. He was also thought as one of the captaincy options for the Challengers. Glenn Maxwell also has experience of captaining teams after leading the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League (BBL).

But since the Victorian is currently busy regarding his wedding with Indian-origin girl Vini Raman. Maxwell is also not a part of the Australia team that is currently touring Pakistan for a Test, ODI and T20I series.

Image: Twitter/ RCBTweets