'Virat Kohli used to drop players' - Virender Sehwag explains reason behind RCB's successful run in IPL 2022

Former Indian batter Virender Sehwag stated that RCB have changed a lot since the entry of Sanjay Bangar as head coach and Faf du Plessis as skipper. RCB have made it to the playoffs for the last three IPL seasons and the side has evolved now in terms of sticking to the same XI for the majority of the tournament which wasn’t the case in the early years.

Du Plessis has been quite impressive with his captaincy this year in terms of his leadership qualities and has taken the side to the playoffs in his very first season as the captain in the IPL. RCB managed to win eight out of their 14 league-stage games and have scampered through to the IPL 2022 playoffs despite a negative net run rate, thanks to Mumbai Indians’ victory against Delhi Capitals in their last league-stage game.

Bangar and Du Plessis have kept the team almost consistent: Virender Sehwag

Sehwag noted the way RCB have changed their thinking in terms of personnel change this year after the entry of Bangar and Du Plessis into the setup. He mentioned the way Kohli had captained RCB in the past by chopping and changing the playing XIs and felt that Bangar would have been forced to hear Kohli’s advice had the latter been the skipper. He added that Kohli can now have a conversation with Bangar instead of thinking about the results.

“The arrival of Sanjay Bangar as head coach and a new captain has changed RCB’s thinking. We have seen how Virat Kohli used to think as he used to drop a player after no performance in 2-3 games. But Bangar and Du Plessis have kept the team almost consistent throughout. Except Patidar for Anuj Rawat, I don’t think they made any changes due to poor performance,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.

“If an Indian player had been captain and if Virat Kohli had given him some advice, he might have had to accept it under pressure. So this is what has changed with Du Plessis as captain. Sanjay Bangar has also worked with Kohli and he can have a conversation with him about that although he gives advice, the team wants to do something else,” he explained.