Faf du Plessis, who was appointed as Royal Challengers Bangalore’s captain for IPL 2022, said his predecessor Virat Kohli will have a big role to play in the franchise’s pursuit of their maiden title. The Indian batsman, one of the best, had stepped down as captain after leading the side for a decade. 

Kohli might have relinquished captaincy but his energy is something that RCB will need at every step of its IPL campaign, du Plessis said on Saturday.

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“Even with him (Kohli) not being the captain, that energy he brings to himself and to the team is hugely important for us. We’ll try and use that as best as we can,” Du Plessis said in a virtual media interaction. 

Kohli, on the other hand, said that he is excited to be led by Faf du Plessis. 

“Happy to pass on the baton to Faf! Excited to partner with him and play under him,” Kohli said in a video posted on Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Twitter handle. 

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Du Plessis, who stepped down as South Africa’s captain in 2020, further credited Kohli for changing Indian cricket. 

“His (Kohli) performance as a cricket player has been probably one of the greatest, so huge respect for what he’s done not only with the bat in his hand but also in captaincy perspective, he’s changed Indian cricket,” Du Plessis said.

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“I’ve seen that happen over time. Playing against India for so long, I could see that shift, his leadership footprint has brought in the Indian team — a competitive, fit Indian team that was fighting fire with fire as no Indian team ever did before. He’s got an extremely strong leadership style and that rubs off obviously on players underneath him and that is something that we would still need,” he added.