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There is no doubt Virat Kohli is one of the best batsman in business in all the formats of the game and is modern day great. But as far captaincy goes, it has been a poor one as far as results are concerned . Let’s be upfront. Virat Kohli took over from Daniel Vettori , former New Zealand Skipper as Royal Challengers Bangalore Skipper on 2013 .
Since then Virat has captained the RCB side but with no success till now .The Royal Challengers have never won the IPL but finished runners-up on three occasions between 2009 and 2016.
It is not only IPL jinx that is worrying for Virat . His stint as the national team skipper too is under scrutiny. Reason India is yet to win a ICC trophy under him. The last time India won a ICC trophy. It was way back in 2013 Champions Trophy under Captain Cool Mahendra Singh Dhoni. So Virat’s captaincy has now critics with valid points to question him .
That Kohli has remained at the helm of the RCB for long has surprised many . Former India opener and hero Of India’s 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 TCC World Cup campaigns Gautam Gambhir was straight in his views on whether RCB look beyond Virat as skipper.
Gambhir told ESPNCricinfo, “100 per cent, because the problem is about accountability. Eight years into the tournament [without a trophy], eight years is a long time. “Tell me any other captain…forget about a captain, tell me any other player who would have got eight years and wouldn’t have won the title and would have still continued with it. So it has to be accountability,” Gambhir, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014, said.
“Eight years is a long, long time. Look at what happened to R Ashwin. Two years of captaincy [for the Kings XI Punjab], he couldn’t deliver and he was removed.” For someone like Rohit, who is on the cusp of his fifth title, a long stint as Mumbai Indians captain has been only possible because he has delivered, said Gambhir. “We talk about Dhoni, we talk about Rohit, we talk about Kohli…not at all. Dhoni has won three [IPL] titles, Rohit has won four titles, and that’s the reason they’ve captained for such a long time because they’ve delivered. I’m sure if Rohit wouldn’t have delivered for eight years, he would have been removed as well.”
Kohli drew a mega amount of Rs 8.28 crore in 2011. He received the same amount for the next two seasons. Ahead of IPL 2013, he was named RCB’s full-time captain replacing Kiwi Daniel Vettori.
With a salary of Rs 17 crore per IPL season, Virat Kohli is presently the highest-paid player in a single season of the league. Since IPL 2018, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain has been drawing a cheque of 17 crore – Rs 2 crore more than the highest retention price. MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) and Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) were also first-choice retained players but they have a salary of Rs 15 crore each.
In total, Kohli has drawn Rs 51 crore in the past three IPL seasons, Rs 6 crore more than Dhoni and Rohit. He has been part of the RCB right form 2008 . Unlike others he has stayed on with the RCB. Further has never been in an IPL auction.
As the second half of the IPL 2021 gets under way in UAE from September 19 onwards all eyes will be on Virat Kohli, and his team RCB . Will they be able to finally go all the way ? Remains to be seen . They have started well until it was halted due to COVID-19 cases in India, the onus is now to perform in the second half.
Lastly, another failure for Virat and RCB will force the franchise to surely look beyond Virat next year. After all how long can RCB spend a whopping Rs 17 crore every year on a superstar and yet to get anything on return?
