Dale Steyn, former Proteas pacer believes that it is probably the right time for Virat Kohli to step aside from T20 captaincy and focus purely on his batting.
Virat Kohli announced last week that he would step down as India’s T20I captain after the upcoming T20 World Cup and a few days later, he announced that he would also give up the leadership of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) who is yet to win the coveted IPL trophy after the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
Dale Steyn: Virat Kohli Is Involved In Everything And It’s The Right Time To Relinquish Captaincy
Dale Steyn had retired from Test cricket after taking 439 scalps from 93 Tests averaging 22.95. Dale Steyn also has 196 ODI scalps and 64 T20I scalps besides his name. Dale Steyn had also taken 97 scalps from 95 IPL matches playing many games for Royal Challengers Bangalore besides skipper Virat Kohli. He has played 33 matches for RCB taking 32 scalps.
“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,” Dale Steyn said on Star Sports’ Live Feed of Select Dugout’.
“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,” Dale Steyn added.
While Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) started well in the first leg of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, they haven’t kick-started the UAE leg on an emphatic note.
Facing Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their first match after season resumption, RCB suffered a humiliating nine-wicket defeat at Abu Dhabi. It was indeed a comprehensive win for the two-time champions as RCB never really looked in the hunt and failed in both batting and bowling departments.
Parthiv Patel: It Has Been A Rollercoaster Ride For Virat Kohli And RCB
Unfortunately for RCB, none of Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat, and Glenn Maxwell could play a substantial knock. Even, AB de Villiers, who has rescued RCB from numerous batting collapses, got out for a golden duck. As a result, RCB skittled out for just 92 runs. Chasing the mediocre total, KKR didn’t break a sweat.
Speaking about Virat’s decision, former India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel said: “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 connection 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.”
“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.
After stumbling to a nine-wicket loss against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Director of Cricket and head coach Mike Hesson said that skipper Virat Kohli’s announcement to step down after the ongoing season did not impact the team’s performance. Virat Kohli became the first player to play 200 IPL matches for a franchise. Overall, he’s the fifth to get the feat.