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Virat Kohli's potential RCB sacking narrative emerges as ex-ENG star uncovers 2019 dynamics: ‘He was in line to become…’
Moeen revealed that there was a time at RCB when the franchise was considering sacking Virat Kohli as a captain.
Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali made a startling revelation about Virat Kohli's captaincy stint in IPL with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Kohli officially assumed captaincy duties from Daniel Vettori in 2013 and led the side until 2021, stepping down to manage his workload. He often faced criticism for not leading RCB to an IPL win during his captaincy stint. He did take them to the final in 2016 with a season of ages with the bat, but apart from that, his overall record as skipper in the league remained underwhelming. After their strong 2016 campaign, RCB failed to maintain momentum, frequently ending seasons in the lower half of the points table. Kohli's leadership came under scrutiny, with critics pointing to his inflexible tactics and constant reshuffling of the playing XI as key factors behind the team’s inconsistent performances. However, his wait for the maiden IPL title ended this year with Rajat Patidar guiding RCB to their maiden title triumph with a win over Punjab Kings in the final.
Meanwhile, Moeen revealed that there was a time at RCB when the franchise was considering sacking Kohli as captain, and senior wicketkeeper batter Parthiv Patel was in contention to take over the big responsibility during IPL 2029.
"Yes, I think he was. I'm quite sure he was," Moeen told Sports Tak.
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“Parthiv was in line to become RCB captain”
The former English all-rounder shed light on the incident and said it was Gary Kirsten's last year as coach in the franchise when the talks of Patel taking over the charge emerged, but it didn't materialise in the end.
"In the final year when Gary Kirsten was there-after the first year, I believe-Parthiv was in line to become captain. He had a brilliant cricketing brain," Moeen added.
"That was the talk at the time. I don't know what happened or why it didn't materialise, but I'm sure he was seriously considered for the role," he concluded.
Interestingly, the 2019 season was the last time when Parthiv played in IPL as he finished his league career with with 2,848 runs from 139 matches and won titles with Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. Meanwhile, RCB parted ways with Gary Kirsten ahead of the 2020 season, bringing in Simon Katich as the new head coach. However, Katich’s stint was short-lived, and it wasn’t until Andy Flower took charge that RCB finally ended their long-standing title drought, ushering in a new era of success for the franchise.
