Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) all-rounder Moeen Ali has revealed that the franchise came close to removing Virat Kohli from captaincy during the 2019 IPL season. According to Moeen, Parthiv Patel was a serious contender to take over the leadership role while Gary Kirsten was the head coach.
Virat Kohli, who took the reins from Daniel Vettori in 2013, led RCB until 2021. Despite his brilliance with the bat, RCB endured several disappointing seasons under his leadership, particularly between 2017 and 2019. The team finished at the bottom of the table in two of those three seasons, following their near-miss in the 2016 final.
Moeen, who played for RCB between 2018 and 2020, shared in an interview with Sports Tak that the franchise held serious talks about installing Parthiv Patel as skipper.
โ๐๐๐, ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐. ๐ฐโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐,โ
Moeen said.
โ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐โ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.โ
Virat Kohli Continued as Captain Until 2021
Despite the internal discussions, RCB did not make the leadership change. Virat Kohli remained as captain until he chose to step down in 2021 due to workload concerns. During his final years as captain, he led RCB to the playoffs in 2020 and continued to deliver stellar performances with the bat.
In the 2021 season, Kohli announced he would relinquish the captaincy, paving the way for Faf du Plessis to take over. Eventually, in 2025, RCB ended their title drought under Rajat Patidarโs captaincy, with Kohli playing a crucial role by scoring 657 runs across 15 matches.
Parthiv Patel, who was with the team until 2019, never returned to the IPL afterward.
โ๐ป๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐. ๐ฐ ๐ ๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐,โ ๐ด๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ , โ๐๐๐ ๐ฐโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.โ
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