Virat Kohli to step down s Royal Challengers Bangalore look to make winning start against Kolkata Knight Riders
A few days after announcing that coming ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in October-November this year will be his last as the captain of the Indian cricket team, Virat Kohli has declared that he will be stepping down from the captaincy of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as well after the conclusion of the second leg of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 tournament which began on Sunday in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Kohli has taken the decision to step down as the captain keeping in mind his workload since he is the captain of the Indian team in all three formats along with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, which is also a hectic job. Kohli’s decision to step down is certainly a huge blow to the RCB side which had finally started looking like a team to beat in the world’s biggest T20 cricket tournament, having finished the first leg in India in the third spot in the IPL 2021 points table.
Kohli has been the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore for a very long time, for perhaps as long as anyone can remember, and it will be up to the team and its players to deliver a memorable performance in the remainder of the IPL 2021 tournament and send their current captain off from his leadership duties in style.
Nothing less than a title win should matter for Royal Challengers Bangalore who looked pretty impressive in the first leg of IPL 2021 which was played in India. From seven matches, RCB have four wins and three defeats, two of which came in the last three matches which also included a narrow one-run victory against Delhi Capitals.
RCB would want to start off on a winning note when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders in a contest in which they are deemed as the red-hot favourites given the kind of power that is present in their ranks. RCB will be without the services of Washington Sundar, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa, Fabian Allen and Daniel Sams for the second leg of IPL 2021, and they have added Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga, Tim David (Singapore), George Garton and Akash Deep to their squad.
For Kolkata Knight Riders, the biggest absence will be in the form of Australia’s pace spearhead Pat Cummins, who is missing the second leg of IPL and in his place, the franchisee has brought in experienced New Zealand fast bowler Tim Southee. However, KKR will pin their hopes once again on the young talent in Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill, whereas expect fireworks from other players such as Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Dinesh Karthik, captain Eoin Morgan and Andre Russell.
Kolkata Knight Riders did not have a good time in the first leg of IPL 2021 as they lost as many as five matches from seven played and won only two. With such a poor performance, KKR were placed at the second last position in the IPL 2021 points table with only four points in their bag, and that is something they would want to improve in the UAE.