IPL 2021: Quick look at Virat Kohli’s journey as RCB captain

Virat Kohli, on Sunday, announced that he will be stepping down as Royal Challengers Bangalore’s captain after the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 ends. Although he did mention that he will continue to play for the franchise. As the RCB begins its second half campaign in the IPL 2021 in Abu Dhabi against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), let’s take a look at Kohli’s journey as RCB captain.

The right-handed batsman has been associated with the Bangalore club since the first year of the IPL in 2008 when he was bought by them on a youth contract. In 2010, the management began seeing signs of a healthy investment in form of Kohli as he was the third-highest run-scorer for his team.

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The following year, he was the only player that was retained by the RCB in the IPL auction and was given the responsibility of vice-captain. This season also marked the first time when he led the team after regular captain Daniel Vettori was out because of an injury.

After two years, Vettori retired and Kohli was given the responsibility as a captain. During that season, he scored a total of 634 runs at an average of 45.28 and also ended the season as the third-highest run-getter. However, RCB missed out on a playoff spot by the narrowest of margins.

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He was growing in stature at a rapid rate and the season of 2015 and 2016 were the highest point of his captaincy. In these two seasons, the RCB captain finished third and second, respectively. The 2015 and 2016 seasons remain the only two seasons apart from 2020 where Kohli led his team to the playoffs.

In 2016, when RCB finished runners-up, Kohli broke the record for most runs in an IPL season (733 runs) by scoring 973 runs in 16 matches at an average of 81.08. That year, he scored four centuries.

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However, after Kohli was appointed captain for all formats of the Indian national cricket team, a clear slump in RCB’s performance was seen. They finished 8th, 6th and 8th from 2017 to 2019.

In 2017, RCB recorded the lowest-ever IPL total after being all out for just 49 in 9.4 overs and lost the match by 82 runs against KKR.

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