Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has said that just because Virat Kohli is a player of immense stature, most Royal Challengers Bangalore fans want him to be the captain again but his performances don't make him worthy of leading the franchise again. He added that rather than looking at his stature, one should look at his performances.
Kohli won the Orange Cap last season but made the joint-slowest century off 67 deliveries, in the history of the IPL as well. While he played a big role in Bangalore's fourth-place finish in IPL 2024, he was constantly criticised for his strike rate.
Manjrekar said that Bangalore supporters should evaluate the decision to make Kohli captain objectively, keeping aside his reputation and star status.
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"If instead of Virat Kohli, there was someone else. You just remove him from your mind and just look at his performance in the IPL, his batting and captaincy performance. Then you think whether it is the right decision to make him the captain," Manjrekar said while speaking on ESPNCricinfo.
"Just because he is Virat Kohli, 95% of fans want him to be the captain. But if you just go by his performances, it isn't that impressive. This is my problem, I do not want to get carried away, because of hero worship, I do not want to get away from the cricket truth," Manjrekar added.
Ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, Bangalore retained Kohli for a whopping Rs 21 crore. The former Indian cricketer has said that he might not be the best option for a skipper since his T20 skills have declined.
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"In Tests, Virat Kohli is out of form, but India need him. But in T20s, I don’t think he is as great a player as he was 7-8 years ago,” Manjrekar said.
Kohli has scored 8004 runs in 252 IPL matches, with eight hundreds to his name. In IPL 2024, he scored 741 runs in 15 matches at a stunning average of 61.75. In IPL 2023, he scored 639 runs in 14 matches at an average of 53.25. In IPL 2016, when he was the captain, Kohli scored a record-breaking 978 runs in 16 matches at an average of 81.