'Time to back the new captain' - Twitter overjoyed as Faf du Plessis appointed RCB captain

Former South Africa captain Faf Du Plessis has been named the new captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore for the upcoming IPL 2022 season. The veteran batter was picked up by RCB in the IPL 2022 mega auction for INR 7 crore after a bidding war with the Chennai Super Kings. The right-hander has been one of the standout players in the tournament’s history and can create a big impact at the top of the order for the RCB franchise.

Virat Kohli stepped down from captaincy after IPL 2021 and the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Faf Du Plessis and Dinesh Karthik were among the contenders to replace him in the role. However, du Plessis’ international captaincy experience got the nod in the end and it will be interesting to see if he can win RCB their maiden IPL trophy.

Du Plessis had been an integral part of the Chennai Super Kings franchise since the 2012 edition and he is likely to partner with Kohli at the top of the order for the RCB franchise. The 37-year-old still has a lot of cricket left in him and can do the job in crunch stations for the franchise. RCB will not have the services of AB de Villiers as he has retired, and du Plessis will have to fill that void as well.

Faf du Plessis’ excellent record in IPL 2021

Du Plessis has always been among the runs in the marquee tournament and he played a vital role alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad at the top of the order for CSK last year. He scored a brilliant 86 off 59 deliveries in the final of IPL 2021 which helped his team to clinch their fourth title.

He managed to score 635 runs in 16 games in the previous IPL season at an average of 45.21 and at an impressive strike rate of 138.20. He hit six fifties with the highest score of unbeaten 95 and proved the saying of age is just a number. However, he was unlucky to have missed out on winning the orange cap by just two runs in the end.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Faf Du Plessis being named skipper of RCB: