Seasoned India spinner Harbhajan Singh has advised Royal Challengers Bengaluru to reinstate Virat Kohli as captain after the Indian Premier League 2024 ends as he believes the team needs an Indian player at the helm. After a lacklustre start to the season, RCB have bounced back nicely and kept their playoff hopes alive with five straight wins.
However, they have not yet relied on the performance of other clubs to advance to the next round of the season. Several high-profile internationals have fallen short of expectations this season, raising the possibility of a major shake-up at the top of RCB's roster next season. With 661 runs in 13 matches this season, Kohli leads the Orange Cap order. Meanwhile, he has been in excellent form this season. The most notable aspect of Kohli's batting this season has been his positive intent with the bat. He plays with an attacking mindset against the spinners in the middle overs and raises the stakes when needed. The former captain is still an important member of the RCB management as he assists Faf du Plessis with fielding innings and is known to lift the balls. pitchers' spirits when the going gets tough.
According to Harbhajan, Kohli is a great leader who influences his team in a big way, similar to MS Dhoni." If they don't qualify, they should go for an Indian man. Why not make Virat Kohli the captain again? Because Virat Kohli is a Strong Leader and understands the style of cricket they need to play, Dhoni has a lot of influence in Chennai and they are playing with a lot of aggression and determination to captain the team," Harbhajan told Star Sports.
After IPL 2021, Kohli stepped down to manage his workload better. In the 2016 edition, the franchise advanced to championship games under his leadership.The RCB batsman has hit 33 sixes so far, the second most for a batsman after SRH's Abhishek Sharma (35 sixes).He has more sixes than Australian sensation Jake Fraser McGurk (28), Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen and Riyan Parag (31), Sunil Narine (32), Rajat Patidar (27) and Rishabh Pant (25).With a career high of 38 sixes in 16 matches in 2016, Kohli's IPL season record of 30 sixes has only been surpassed once, this time in history.