Kohli calls his time as Bangalore captain

Bangalore captain Virat Kohli played his last game as Indian T20 League captain as the legend of the game relinquishes his captaincy on Monday.  After losing their eliminator match against Kolkata, Virat unfortunately finishes his tenure as captain with 0 titles in his book. This is not just upsetting for the Bangalore fans but also cricket fans in general as many people feel that the legend of the game ‘deserves’ to win one at least.

Whether it’s just the emotion or not, that only they can say but in reality, Virat’s record as captain is not at par with the other captains. Even the batsman Virat has faced a lot of criticism last night when his strike rate was just 118. This is very concerning. Specially as an opener he got to play the entire power play and beyond.

The fans were dejected on social media but they found some light when Virat announced that he would continue with Bangalore and that loyalty matters to him more than anything. In the world where the sport is driven by money, this kind of loyalty is definitely something that cricketers of any generation can learn from.

Coming to his captaincy, the 32-year-old started captaining his side in 2011 when Vettori suffered an injury. However, he was made a permanent captain in 2013 and since then the Bangalore side changed forever. A new culture was introduced as a lot of young players got to showcase their talent. Some rose to the occasion while some failed. However, their consistency was always the talking point. Also, as Batsman, Virat always delivered but the captain Virat failed to make the mark on numerous occasions which eventually haunted them.

Virat captained the Bangalore side for a total of 140 matches where the challengers lost more matches than they won. With 70 losses and 66 wins in his books, Virat’s captaincy can be termed as average specially when his records as India captain is one to be written in gold. However, not everything was bad. In 2016, Virat and his men had a tremendous season in the field. Virat himself was in red hot form as he scored 973 runs in that season and took his team to another Indian T20 league final but again; luck didn’t favour them at all.

Even when Virat is termed as an average Indian t20 league captain but he always did the talking with the bat. The talisman scored 4881 runs as captain, the most by any captain in the history of the league. Thus, Virat gave everything out there. One can never question his passion and dedication for his team. However, now with Virat gone, can Bangalore clinch their maiden trophy next season? Who can lead Bangalore to the trophy next season? While these questions raise concern for the fanboys and fangirls, the management needs to act smart as not every player can manage the likes of Virat Kohli, De Villiers and other high voltage players.