IPL: 3 Players who can successfully lead RCB in Virat Kohli's absence

There is often a lot of talk about how Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have never won a single IPL title so far. Despite having some of the biggest names of world cricket, their trophy cabinet is still empty. Moreover, they are also deemed as the perennial underachievers of the IPL.

RCB reached the final on three occasions – 2009, 2011 and 2016 but couldn’t cross the final hurdle. Apart from this, they’ve reached the playoffs only in two other seasons and that is something to worry about. In the last three years, RCB have finished with the wooden spoon twice (2017 and 2019). Hence, there is a lot of pressure on skipper Virat Kohli.

In fact, there have been calls for him to step down as captain as well. That may not happen in the near future, but there have been instances when he’s injured and opted out of a game. Thus, here we take a look a three possible players who can lead RCB successfully in Kohli’s absence.

1. Parthiv Patel

This may be a pretty underrated option but Parthiv Patel can make a good leader. He’s shown that in the domestic circuit as well. The left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman is the captain of Gujarat and has led them successfully over the last few years.

Moreover, Patel can have a great view from behind the stumps. He has the best view of the field as well. The 34-year-old had a pretty good IPL last season as well. He was RCB’s third-highest run-getter (373 runs at a strike-rate of almost 140) behind Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.

He’s also had a very good start to the Indian domestic season. Patel scored 442 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, scoring five half-centuries. Captaincy has brought the best out of Patel as a batsman for his domestic side and it could well be the case in the IPL as well. Thus, he could be one of the candidates for captaincy if Kohli misses out.