Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has been named as the next Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain, who will lead the team in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) beginning March 26 in Mumbai. The name was announced at an event named ‘RCB Unbox’ in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Du Plessis, who represented Chennai Super Kings till last year, was bought by Royal Challengers for ₹7 crore in the mega auction last month. He was presented with the cap by Team President Prathamesh Mishra and Director Cricket Operations Mike Hesson.
“I am deeply grateful for this opportunity. I have played a lot of IPL and understand the dynamics of the game. Trusting an overseas player is no small thing.”
“I would rely heavily on the wonderful experience of the domestic players. We have got great leaders of the game in Virat Kohli.”
RCB have been on the lookout for their new leader after Virat Kohli stepped down from the post last year citing workload management. His announcement came just days after he had said that he would step down as India’s T20I captain ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Kohli was leading the team since 2011 and the team’s best performance came in the year 2016 in which he finished as runner-up.
Under the leadership of du Plessis, RCB will start their campaign in IPL 2022 against Punjab Kings at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on March 27.
He led South Africa in 115 international games, of which the team was victorious on 81 occasions. Under his leadership, Proteas won 25 out of 40 T20Is. In February 2020, he left his position to focus on his game.
The right-handed batsman played a big role in cementing CSK’s batting last season. Last season, du Plessis had 633 runs to his credit, just two runs short of Orange Cap winner Ruturaj Gaikwad. He has scored more than 1000 runs in IPL 2020 and 2021 combined.
RCB full squad for IPL 2022: Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, 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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