Virat Kohli is synonymous with Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL. Having been associated with the franchise since the inaugural season in 2008, Kohli has played many match-winning knocks for them and also captained the team from 2013 to 2021. However, he won his first IPL title with RCB under the captaincy of Rajat Patidar in 2025. Then, in 2026, RCB successfully defended the title.
Time and again, Kohli has said that RCB is the only franchise he will play for in the IPL.
“I have never talked about this, but Moeen Ali mentioned it in an interview. “Yes, I think he was. I’m quite sure he was. In the final year when Gary Kirsten was there, after the first year, I believe Parthiv was in line to become captain.
Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali, who was once part of RCB’s squad, had earlier revealed that the franchise was looking to remove Kohli from the captaincy during IPL 2019 and was planning to promote wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel as the new skipper.
The fact is that I was told, ‘Be ready, we are thinking about this for next year. But the next year, the two people who offered it to me [ Ashish Nehra and Gary Kirsten ] were replaced, new coaches came in, and I didn’t get to play a single match that entire season,” said Parthiv during an interaction on Aakash Chopra’s YouTube channel. He had a brilliant cricketing brain,” Moeen said on Sports Tak.
