The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) club was in severe need of a veteran player who could take charge of the locker room after Virat Kohli resigned as captain of the group. As a result, they didn’t waste much time since, following a fierce competition with Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Bangalore bought Faf du Plessis for INR 7 crore and appointed him as the team’s new captain during the IPL auction in 2022. RCB’s Director of Cricket, Mike Hesson, explained the reasoning behind this choice by saying that the former South African cricketer checked all the right boxes because of his extensive expertise and high regard among Indian players.
Therefore, we sought a captain who, ideally, had prior experience leading an international team and who was well-liked by both Indian and foreign players. That it wasn’t just someone who would take a year to be in was crucial. Mike Hesson stated on the RCB podcast, “We thought that at RCB we needed someone to hit the ground running.
At RCB, we believed that we required a quick learner: Mike Hesson
Mike Hesson emphasized that the RCB needed a player with international experience and, more significantly, with enormous respect from both international and Indian players while outlining the traits they were seeking in a player, which Faf possesses.
“We sought a guy who could, in terms of performance, be plugged right in. Someone who, as Faf plainly did, had a recent IPL record that was incredibly strong. And because we wanted that inclusive style, it would also get along well with the coach and the coaching group. Someone that we were seeking to either bring in or retain was someone like Virat, Maxi (Glenn Maxwell), or DK (Dinesh Karthik), who were all excellent senior players. Therefore, we had to put those abilities to use rather than merely acting like an authoritarian captain. We need someone who will actually visit and collaborate with that team. And Faf checked every box, according to Mike Hesson.
Notably, under du Plessis’ capable direction, RCB qualified for the IPL 2022 playoffs but regrettably fell to Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2. They have only been able to win two of their first five games this season, and they are now ranked sixth in the IPL Points Table.
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