Faf du Plessis will succeed Virat Kohli as captain for this year’s IPL as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)’s official announcement on Saturday ended weeks of speculation.

The former South Africa captain had emerged as one of the top run-getters last year, donning Chennai Super Kings colours, which was also crucial in securing the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side their fourth IPL crown.

With Kohli deciding to relinquish captaincy, a decision he had taken midway during IPL 2021, RCB found 37-year-old Du Plessis as the best man to step into the former India skipper’s shoes.

“It was more about focusing on the leadership group in our team. And obviously, Faf was right there on the top,” Mike Hesson, the RCB director of cricket operations, said on the sidelines of a promotional organised by the franchise here, said.

“When he captained South Africa, I knew how respected he was and also how technically sound he is. We’re focusing on the likes of Virat, Maxi (Glenn Maxwell), DK (Dinesh Karthik) making a leadership model with Faf making the ultimate decision.”

Ready for the challenging role, Du Plessis, however, would be banking a good deal on the energy Kohli brings to the side just as a player.

“I can see that shift of Virat’s captaincy footprint in the Indian team.

“He built a competitive, fit side that was fighting fire with fire than the Indian team did before. His strong leadership rubs off on the young players and even if he is not the captain, the energy that he brings along to the team is hugely important for us. So we’ll be looking to try and use that as best as we can,” Du Plessis emphasised.

Du Plessis is also quite clear about the goals and targets he would like to set as the captain of RCB. “I’m no different to any other player. I play the game to win and for me, the real focus is how you do that.

“As a batsman, I’ll try to be one of the performing batsmen every time I go out there. As a leader of the team, I’ll look to lead from the front and make sure we turn out to be the best.

“Also important for me is to reach out to the youngsters and make sure I can run just as far and as fast as them. Besides, there are some fantastic leaders in our group and it would be stupid of me not to use their brains in terms of decision-making,” he explained.

Harshal’s focus

Being the highest wicket-taker (32 scalps) in the last edition of the IPL was key to Harshal Patel earning a berth in India’s T20I squad. Since making his India debut last November, the pacer has picked up 11 wickets from eight T20I appearances so far.

For many players, this year’s IPL could be even more important, considering the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia in October-November. Harshal will certainly be eyeing a spot in the Indian squad for the showpiece event, but at present, all that matters to him is putting in another impressive showing in the coming IPL.

“To me, the IPL is important because RCB have showed faith in me, brought me back into the set-up and I have that implicit commitment of replicating my performance of last year.

“They have brought me back, believing I can deliver again for them. So for me, it’s the IPL, which is my focus now. Once the IPL is over, I’ll see what happens.

“But at the moment, what matters is what I’m going to do in the next two months,” Harshal emphasised.

“I want to be in those difficult situations again and try and win my team those tough games,” he added.