Royal Challengers Bangalore recently announced their new captain as Faf du Plessis for the upcoming IPL 2022 season and a lot of former cricketers and experts viewed it as an excellent decision. Virat Kohli led the franchise for from 2013 until the previous season before stepping down from the role after the conclusion IPL 2021.
Du Plessis played for the Chennai Super Kings franchise in IPL 2021 and finished as the second-highest run-getter in the tournament, helping his team win the title. He was picked by the RCB franchise in the IPL 2022 mega auction for INR 7 crore and is likely to open the batting alongside Kohli. The 37-year-old has captained the South Africa national side for a considerable number of years and did a brilliant job well as well.
Faf du Plessis would want to lead from the front, show the way: Sunil Gavaskar
Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar mentioned that RCB has done an excellent job by appointing du Plessis as the captain and highlighted the leadership qualities of the latter for his national side. He also added that du Plessis will have to fill in the gap created by AB De Villiers’ retirement and said that he expects him to open the batting. RCB is yet to win an IPL trophy and it will be interesting to see if du Plessis can change the fortunes.
“Loads of captaincy experience, loads of leadership quality you see in Faf du Plessis. I am not surprised at all. Remember, he took South African cricket ahead. There was a time in South African cricket when there was a bit of turmoil. He managed to get the team together and get South Africa right up to the top. Clearly, a terrific decision by RCB to hand over the captaincy to Faf du Plessis,” Gavaskar said while speaking to Star Sports.
“Big shoes to fill (AB de Villiers’ absence), no doubt about that. Faf du Plessis will open the batting. He would want to lead from the front, show the way. These are exciting times for RCB,” he added.