Will removing Virat Kohli as RCB skipper ease their troubles and worries? Virender Sehwag opines

Virat Kohli has been playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore since 2008 and has been leading the side since 2013. The side has not managed to win the Indian Premier League title to date, while it has finished as the runners-up on a couple of occasions.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are one of the three sides in the Indian Premier League (IPL) to have never won the title to date. While they looked on course this season, their playoffs loss to former champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Eliminator on Friday means that they will have to wait longer.

Skipper Virat Kohli has been leading the side since 2013, and it has been eight years since he has failed to lead the side to the title glory. Consequently, experts feel that relieving Kohli of the duties of RCB captaincy and handing it over to someone else might do the trick.

However, will that be enough? While former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir feels so, his former opening partner Virender Sehwag feels otherwise.

“A captain is only as good as his team. When Virat Kohli captains India, he is able to deliver the results. He wins matches – ODIs, T20Is Tests. But, when he captains RCB, his team is not able to perform,” Sehwag was quoted as saying on Cricbuzz.

“It is very important for the captain to have a good team. So, I believe the management should not try and think of changing their captain, and rather think of how they can improve this team. Who all should be added to the team to make sure their performance improves?” added Sehwag.

Furthermore, Sehwag feels that RCB’s batting order is weak, while they also need an excellent opener to give stability. “Every team has a settled batting order, but RCB have never had that. It’s only ABD and Virat, who keep shuffling up and down the order,” he continued.

“With Padikkal coming to the fore, I reckon RCB need to have one more opener and a good lower-order batsman. These five batsmen should be enough to win them matches. The same way, they’d have to trust their Indian fast bowlers. Everyone gets taken to the cleaners. It’s not as if Rabada, Morris and others haven’t been taken for runs,” concluded Sehwag.

Padikkal had a memorable season, as he finished as the side’s highest run-scorer. He managed to score 473 runs in 15 innings, at a decent average of 31.53, including five half-centuries.