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The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are faced with a serious conundrum ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega-auction. Both the options of going retention-heavy and purse-heavy into the event have their merits, with incumbent skipper Faf du Plessis' future hanging in the balance.
The current skipper defied age yet again by leading the St. Lucia Kings to the 2024 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) while having an excellent campaign with the bat. However, the retention slabs and du Plessis' long-term commitment are major obstacles, which leads one to believe that RCB will have to find a new captaincy candidate.
It is hard to ignore a senior and accomplished player like Virat Kohli when the prospect of leadership is concerned despite the fact that he resigned after the 2021 season. The circumstances were different back then, and the need of the hour is entirely different now. While there are a lot of factors, on and off the field, that concern this monumental decision, it is certainly something that will be on the back of the franchise's mind.
Kohli led the team on a sporadic basis when Faf du Plessis was unavailable
Virat Kohli's return as the RCB captain is a sharp double-edged sword for RCB. Let's dissect as to how that is the case by delving into the potential positives and negatives.
Kohli deserves another shot at leadership
One of India's greatest cricketing leaders, Virat Kohli, has not had proper closure when it comes to leadership. He unceremoniously resigned as Test captain after a series loss to South Africa, he exited as T20I and IPL captain after underwhelming campaigns too.
The question of whether Kohli wants the captaincy in the first place is a valid one, but assuming that he does want to take on the role, it solves a lot of problems for RCB. They will not be going into the mega-auction blindfolded. Having secured the leadership debacle prior to the auction, the franchise can focus solely on the squad building, rather than carrying the additional pressure of finding a captain through the inflated market.
This takes us to the question of leadership options being even available in the auction or not. The majority of the captains are likely to be retained by their respective franchises, while Faf du Plessis' age and the new retention slabs makes long-term planning difficult, therefore complicating his retention. Furthermore, apart from Kohli, RCB do not have any leadership candidates in their current squad as well.
RCB need their DNA intact through one form or the other after a major rejig. Kohli does impart an influence on the dressing room and the proceedings, irrespective of whether he is a captain or not. However, his authority as a leader would be unmatched.
With a calmer persona, he can use the opportunity to rectify his mistakes
Old habits die hard, but still, a lot has transpired since Kohli relinquished captaincy three years ago. Kohli has always had a difficult time separating emotion from the game, and still does to an extent, but a dialed-down version, one with more balance could be the right combination.
With his revamped outlook combined with his previous stint as captain, Kohli could use it to his benefit from a captaincy point of view. Kohli was at the helm for RCB for a long time, but does not have much success to show for it, boasting a win percentage of below 50 percent.
In his defence, RCB lacked a clear identity, an issue with balance, and recurring poor decision-making at the auction. This time around, if RCB and Kohli are on the same page to amend past mistakes with an experienced and successful coach like Andy Flower for guidance, a lot could go right.
Kohli has just found his identity as a new-age T20 batter
After several mediocre seasons (by his standards) post the iconic IPL 2016 campaign, Kohli got the hang of modern-day T20 cricket. Across the last three seasons, with the burden of captaincy off his mind, Kohli has scored 1721 runs which includes an Orange Cap season.
After questions surrounding his ability to adapt to the modern-day T20 approach, Virat Kohli responded by scoring over 700 runs at a strike rate of 154. The free, unchained and unhinged version of Kohli, where he brought back the slog sweep and was taking on the spinners in the middle overs was a delight to watch.
While there is no guarantee that the burden of leadership will affect Kohli's returns with the bat, RCB are safer not tempting fate. It will be cruel to pull the plug on Kohli's rebirth as a T20 batter by asking him to lead the team again just as he had cracked the formula from a batting point of view.
It is a known fact that Kohli relishes playing with responsibility and pressure, but this might not be the right avenue given how quickly everything could go wrong and collapse. The fact of the matter is, Kohli- the batter will always be more important than Kohli- the captain for RCB.
Kohli's deputy act has been perfect for him and the team
Over the last three years, Kohli has forged a brilliant dynamic with RCB captain Faf du Plessis. With the veteran South African introducing a new culture into the side, Kohli played the perfect second fiddle by buying into it and continuing to set an example for the rest of the squad.
It has been the perfect middle ground for Kohli to function at his peak. He is in the leadership circle, but not the leader. In this role, he is not burdened with the final decision-making, only consulting and advising, and it helped Faf du Plessis a long way while trying to match the ambitions and expectations of the franchise.
With the sort of 'He is there, but not there' dynamic in the team, Kohli is free to go out and solely focus on what he does best, and that is score runs.
To conclude, as appealing as Kohli's return as captain appears for RCB, and eases their woes, it should only be considered as a last resort. They are expected to have a decent purse amount as they are unlikely to go heavy on their retentions. With that extra amount, they can go all-out for a leadership option (preferably Indian) in the auction.
Ideally, they should go for a younger candidate, that Kohli can groom in the deputy role that he currently holds as he heads into his final years. It will be a bit of 'learning on the job', but it is essential in the long-term scheme of things.
Should that strategy not pan out, which should not be the case, then RCB may not have an alternative but to turn to Kohli to lead the side again. If he accepts, then RCB might have to prepare for a reduced return with his bat, and if he accepts reluctantly, then that is the worst case scenario.
