Sanjay Manjrekar said Virat Kohli should not be chosen as the captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for IPL 2025. He asked people to look at how Virat has batted in the last IPL seasons.
Kohli won the Orange Cap last season but also scored one of the slowest centuries in the tournament’s history where he scored a ton in 67 balls. Manjrekar noted that Kohli’s performance wasn’t good enough to make him captain again.
While speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Kohli said, “Don’t get emotional by the stature of Virat Kohli, but look at his performances as a batter and a captain in IPL. His strike rate was 150 in the last season and in the 120s in the previous seasons.”
RCB has retained Virat for INR 21 crore, and the franchise is looking for a new skipper after parting ways with the dashing South African batter Faf du Plessis. Manjrekar said that Virat is not the right choice for the role as he is no more a T20 cricketer that he was a few years ago.
“Fans still think that Virat can make an impact in T20 cricket. But look at his performances, and you will find that he hasn’t been impressive,” he added.
“I don’t get emotional, and I can’t run away from the truth. Virat Kohli is out of form in Test cricket, but India need him. I don’t think he is a great player in T20 cricket anymore.”
Talking about the retention of Royal Challengers Bangalore, the franchise had got Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, and Yash Dayal for the next season. They have left some key players of the team which includes Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Cameron Green etc.
