IPL: 39 and out, Virat Kohli starts and ends RCB captaincy stint on identical score
Virat Kohli’s tenure as captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore ended disappointingly on Monday when his team lost a qualifying match against the Kolkata Knights in Sharjah to be relegated from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in the playoffs.
Kohli’s RCB had a great chance to lift their maiden IPL title this year having produced one of their best performances in the league stage but they couldn’t carry the momentum in the knockouts and faltered in the wrong game to bow out of the competition.
The defeat brought a disappointing end to one of the most-talked-about captaincy tenures in the IPL as Kohli finished without a trophy despite having led the franchise for 8 seasons.
Kohli scored 39 in his final match as RCB skipper, the same score he had made on his debut game as the captain for the franchise which he has led since succeeding New Zealand superstar Daniel Vettori in IPL 2013.
Kohli ends his stint with the most runs and hundreds as captain in the IPL. The 32-year-old amassed 4871 runs as RCB skipper at an average of 41.99 with 5 hundreds and 35 fifties.
He led the team in 140 matches out of which he won 66 and lost 70 games. RCB reached the playoffs thrice under Kohli in 2015, 2020 and 2021 but their best finish under the India skipper came in 2016 when they finished runners-up for the third time in IPL history.
Kohli has amassed a record 973 runs with 4 hundreds in IPL 2016 but still ended that season without the silverware.
‘I have given 120 percent to RCB every time’
Speaking after the heartbreaking defeat to KKR, Virat Kohli said he doesn’t know how the response has been for his captaincy at RCB but stressed he had given it his all.
“I have tried my best to create a culture here where youngsters could come in and play with freedom and belief. It is something I have done with India as well. I have given my best. I don’t know how the response has been, but I have given 120% to this franchise every time, which is something I will now do as a player,” Kohli said.
Loyalty matters the most to me: Kohli
Kohli once again reiterated that he would want to stay at Royal Challengers Bangalore as a player till the time he retires from the IPL.
“Yes definitely, I don’t see myself playing anywhere else. Loyalty matters more to me than worldly pleasures. I would be in the RCB till the last day I play in the IPL,” Kohli added.
