Indian Premier League season 18 is all set to begin with the opening clash between defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru on 22 March. With Virat Kohli continuing to play an important part at RCB, the franchise receives massive fan momentum despite not winning a single trophy so far.
Ahead of RCB’s first match, former player of the franchise, Ab de Villiers has talked about the role of Virat Kohli and his likely opening partner Phil Salt in helping the franchise suceed in this season.
Speaking on JioStar Press Room, De Villiers said, “Virat seems to be enjoying his cricket. I don’t think he’s going to have to up his strike rate batting with Phil Salt,”
“Salt is one of the most attacking players we’ve ever seen. I think he’s going to take a lot of pressure off Virat. Virat needs to continue what he’s been doing for so many years…control the game, play smart cricket. He’s got the best instinct of any player out there. He knows when to up the ante a bit and when to lower it.” the former South African battter added.
Virat Kohli needs to captain RCB batting:
While RCB have a new captain in Rajat Patidar, De Villiers believes Kohli still has a massive role to play in order to ensure that there are no batting collapses, essentially captaining the batting department.
“Virat needs to be the captain of the batting department in this tournament and really just keep things together, play smart cricket to make sure they don’t find those collapses in the batting order.”De Villiers stated.
Notably, Kohli has been a part of RCB since start of IPL in 2008 and has played every single season for the franchise. Such is the popularity of the veteran batter that he often fills the Chinnaswamy stadium in Benglauru with people lining up to see him play.
The veteran batter had captained the franchise in the past but has refrained from doing so in the last few years. RCB were led by Faf du Plessis last year but they have decided to go in a younger direction with IPL 2025 season.
