IPL 2022: Faf du Plessis named as Royal Challengers Bangalore captain

Faf du Plessis was named as Royal Challengers Bangalore’s captain for IPL 2022 on Saturday. The South African will replace Virat Kohli, who has stepped down from the post after leading the team for a decade. 

RCB chairman Prathmesh Mishra and director cricket operations Mike Hesson, in a virtual event, handed over thr cap to Du Plessis. The former Protea leader said that he is ‘deeply grateful for the opportunity’.  

“I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity. I have played a lot of IPL and understand the dynamics of the game. It’s no small thing to trust an overseas player,” Du Plessis said. 

Also read: Royal Challengers Bangalore announce Faf du plessis as skipper: A look at his captaincy record

He had given up South African captaincy across all formats in 2020. 

“I would rely heavily on the amazing experience of domestic players. We have got great leader of the game in Virat Kohli,” Du Plessis said.

The team’s former captain Virat Kohli, in a video posted on the team’s social media handle, said that he is excited to play under Faf du Plessis. 

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“Happy to pass on the baton to Faf! Excited to partner with him and play under him,” Virat Kohli said in the video. 

Du Plessis, one of the consistent performers for Chennai Super Kings, was an obvious choice after Virat Kohli decided to call time on his leadership role for the franchise after a decade during which their trophy draught didn’t end. He was bought for Rs 7 crore by RCB and is available for the whole season.

The 37-year-old Du Plessis has so far played 100 games in IPL, scoring 2935 runs at a strike-rate of 131-plus. He scored 633 runs for CSK in last year’s IPL-winning campaign.