Faf du Plessis, former Proteas skipper was effusive in his praise for Virat Kohli, the leader, crediting him from bringing a huge change in Indian cricket.

Former India captain Virat Kohli has played a key role in changing Indian cricket during his leadership period. Although, the team did not win an ICC silverware, India evolved into one of the greatest Test sides in cricket history, drawing comparisons to the West Indies of the 70s and 80s and the invincible Australian side under Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.

Faf du Plessis Has Huge Respect For Virat Kohli As Batsman And Skipper

Virat Kohli, who resigned from Test captaincy earlier in January, ended his tenure as the fourth-most successful skipper in Test history, registering 40 wins as a captain in 68 games, which also includes 11 draws. He stands third in terms of win percentage (50%) among all 28 Test captains who have at least led a team in 40 or more matches.

Faf du Plessis admitted that during his tenure as an international cricketer and leading the South African side, he witnessed the change and admitted that he had never seen an Indian team like that before.

“Virat is not just for RCB but also for international game. He is one of the most respected leaders of the game. His performance as a cricket player has been probably one of the greatest.

“So huge respect for what he has done with the bat in his hand, but also captaincy perspective,” he said during the RCB Unbox event on Saturday where he was named as the new captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise for the 2022 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). 

“He has changed Indian cricket. I have seen that happen over time. Playing against India for so long, I could see that shift, his leadership footprint has brought in the Indian team — a competitive, fit Indian team that was fighting fire with fire as no Indian team ever did before,” he added.

Virat Kohli has captained the Royal Challengers Bangalore side in most matches – 140 matches with a win percentage of 49.29. Virat Kohli, who took over the RCB captaincy from Daniel Vettori in the 2013 season, finished with 66 wins and 70 defeats in 140 games as RCB skipper.

Faf du Plessis: Virat Kohli’s Got An Extremely Strong Leadership Style

Faf du Plessis has led South Africa in 8 international matches against a Virat Kohli-led Indian side – 6 in Tests and the remaining two in ODIs. India won six matches – four Tests and two ODIs – and lost the remaining two Tests.

“He’s got an extremely strong leadership style and that rubs off obviously on players underneath him and that is something that we would still need. Apart from Kohli, the team has players like Glen Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik, who have captaincy expertise in franchise cricket,” he added. 

Virat Kohli might have relinquished captaincy but his energy is something that RCB will need at every step of its IPL campaign, newly appointed skipper Faf du Plessis said on Saturday. The four-time IPL winner for CSK was on Saturday unveiled as RCB skipper to take the baton from their longest-standing captain, Virat Kohli who took charge ahead of IPL 2013.

Faf du Plessis has the opportunity to be the first captain to win an IPL trophy for RCB as they have made it to the finals thrice in 2009, 2011, and 2016 editions but have failed to win the title.

Virat Kohli had announced at the beginning of the UAE leg of the 2021 edition of the IPL that he will quit as captain of the side after this season. Virat Kohli is the all-time leading run-scorer in the IPL. Virat Kohli has so far scored 6283 runs in 207 IPL matches since he joined RCB in the inaugural edition in 2008 and led them to a runners-up finish in 2016.

RCB had retained Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and Mohammed Siraj. Some of the key players that RCB acquired include Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Faf du Plessis, Josh Hazlewood, Dinesh Karthik in IPL 2022 auctions.