Virat Kohli has gone strength to strength over the years and so is the Indian Premier League. The gala competition has witnessed some exciting battles over the 22 yards with stalwarts from different countries plying their trade.
However, in all of the 14 seasons of the extravagant competition, Virat Kohli is the only player to represent one franchise. It is Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) who picked him in the draft ahead of the inaugural edition in 2008, and the rest is history.
Interestingly, the former skipper never even landed in the auction pool. Although the right-handed batter slammed a plethora of runs in his IPL career and is the highest run-getter in IPL history, he couldn’t take RCB to glory even once.
Hence, many questions were raised about his role and contribution. However, no factor has been able to break the Virat Kohli-RCB association so far. The 33-year-old even stated that he would play for RCB till the time he plays IPL.
Virat Kohli Have Been Approached To Come Into The Auction But Loyalty With RCB Is Far Greater Than Winning IPL
Speaking of his bond with the team, Virat Kohli revealed that he has been approached by different franchises to land in the auction pool. The veteran batter, however, feels his loyalty to RCB is far greater than winning the title with any other team.
“I’ve been approached a few times as well – to come into the auction somehow – I have thought about it. There have been many great players who have won trophies and things like that but no one addresses you like that. If you are a good person, people like you and if you are a bad guy, they stay away from you,” said Kohli in the RCB podcast.
“Eventually, that’s what life is all about. The loyalty with RCB, like how I follow my life, is far greater than five people saying you’ve finally won the IPL with XYZ. What this franchise has given to me in the first three years, and believed in me, that is the most special thing,” he added.
Royal Challengers Bangalore had decided to retain Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega-auction in January.
Virat Kohli Won’t Lead RCB Anymore After Stepping Down As Skipper After IPL 2021
Virat Kohli, the highest run-scorer in the IPL, won’t be leading the team anymore therefore, RCB will have to find a skipper in the auction in January. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli stepped down as RCB captain following the conclusion of the last season-IPL 2021. However, he’ll continue to offer his services as a batter. He has been retained by the franchise for INR 15 crore ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction.
Virat Kohli has been retained for Rs 15 crore, taking a pay cut of Rs 2 crore, while Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj have been retained for Rs 11 crore and Rs 7 crore, respectively. The 33-year-old Virat Kohli has played innumerable match-winning knocks for RCB, who have always boasted star-studded lineups but could still never win the IPL.
RCB who was knocked out in the eliminator of IPL 2021 by KKR had an outstanding campaign in the league stage where they finished third behind Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings. Virat Kohli amassed 405 runs in the season while Glenn Maxwell top-scored for them with 513 runs and picked 3 wickets in his best year in the IPL 2021.
The all-time leading run-scorer in the IPL, Virat Kohli has so far scored 6283 runs in 207 IPL matches since he joined RCB in the inaugural edition in 2008 and led them to a runners-up finish in 2016.