Sanjay Manjrekar on RCB captaincy decision: They didn’t want to put pressure on Virat Kohli

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar feels Royal Challengers Bengaluru made a good decision in appointing Rajat Patidar as their new captain for the upcoming IPL 2025. Manjrekar said RCB didn’t want to put the captaincy pressure on Virat Kohli.

Kohli led RCB till 2021 and subsequently, the franchise backed Faf du Plessis as their new leader. However, the former South African captain was not retained by RCB before the mega auction.

Kohli led RCB in 143 matches, winning 66 and losing 70 games during his captaincy tenure but could not lead them to an IPL title. 

Meanwhile, Rajat Patidar has done a good job for RCB in the middle overs and he also led Madhya Pradesh to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final in 2024.

Sanjay Manjrekar said on Star Sports, “I thought RCB took a very good decision. They didn’t want to put pressure on Virat Kohli by giving him the responsibility of captaincy. When someone is in the nothing-to-lose zone, you must have seen reality shows, when someone is out of the race or singing in his farewell round.”

On the other hand, the veteran duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been under the pump for their form in the recent past. However, Manjrekar reckons the best of Rohit and Kohli will be seen in the upcoming IPL.

“I think the best of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in recent times will be seen in this IPL. These two are big brands of Indian cricket, are together in this game,” said Manjrekar.

While Rohit scored an impressive knock of 119 runs off just 90 balls in the second ODI at Cuttack against England, Kohli scored a fifty in the third ODI at Ahmedabad.

India will begin their Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh in Dubai on February 20.