Virat Kohli would have said no to RCB captaincy offer to focus on his batting: Kris Srikkanth

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) named Rajat Patidar as their captain for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on Thursday, February 13. He took over the role from Faf du Plessis, who joined Delhi Capitals at the IPL 2025 mega auction.

The move to appoint Patidar as the captain was welcomed by RCB fans. However, a set of fans were disappointed as they wanted to see the legendary Virat Kohli reprise his role as the skipper of the franchise. After the mega-auction, some reports suggested that Kohli was interested in captaining RCB once again. However, the 36-year-old is set to continue as a specialist batter for the Bengaluru-based team.

Kris Srikkanth, who was a member of India's World Cup-winning squad in 1983, said that Kohli might have turned down the offer to lead RCB to focus on his batting.

"I think Virat would have said no to the captaincy. He would have said 'I want to focus on batting'. I think all this must have happened in consultation with Virat Kohli," Srikkanth said while speaking on his YouTube channel Cheeky Cheeka.

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Patidar has captained Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket. Srikkanth said that because he is new to IPL captaincy, there won't be too much pressure off expectations. The cricketer-turned-expert also opined that Kohli will be able to offer guidance if and when Patidar needs it.

"Rajat Patidar is a good choice. He has been doing well in the IPL. The good things is he will not have a lot of expectations. When we appointed Dhoni in 2007 as the T20 World Cup captain, not a lot was expected of him and the team. It's a bit like that...Expectations from Rajat Patidar as a captain are not high. He will take his own calls. He will consult Virat Kohli, who will be a guiding force," he added.