Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Director of cricket operations Mike Hesson talked about the reason behind Virat Kohli’s decision to step down from captaincy. Mike Hesson said that Virat Kohli wants to enjoy his time with the franchise as a senior player and revealed that he wanted a break.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Saturday announced Faf Du Plessis as Virat Kohli‘s successor for the job of teams captaincy. Virat Kohli had announced last year before the 2021 season began that it would be his final season as skipper of the franchise. Following this, there were speculations in regards to who would take up the prestigious job and many people had also assumed that Virat Kohli might be asked by RCB management to take the job once again. However, in an event held on Saturday by RCB, it was announced that Faf Du Plessis will lead them in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) season.

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Director of cricket operations Mike Hesson revealed that the right-handed batter wanted a break. He further explained that Virat Kohli who led the franchise for eight years wants to enjoy his time as a senior player with the team and focus on his batting.

Mike Hesson at the RCB Unbox event said, “Virat has given absolutely everything to this franchise as a captain. He has given his heart and soul. It is pretty apparent that when you resign from a role, you want a break. He wants to enjoy his time at RCB as a senior player and as a batsman and we are very respectful of that as well”. 

He also talked about how Virat Kohli’s suggestion was considered before the appointment of Faf Du Plessis as the captain of the franchise.

Hesson said, “Just because the situation has changed within here doesn’t mean that the situation has changed in terms of him wanting to come and win games for RCB. We spoke to Virat about the leadership options and Faf was someone he was really excited about. I have also leaned on AB de Villiers for his thoughts as well”.