IPL 2022 | Too much chopping and changing under Virat Kohli affected RCB: Virender Sehwag

After two seasons of failing to qualify beyond Eliminator 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have managed to defy the odds and reach the Qualifiers 2 stage of the tournament under the leadership of Faf du Plessis. 

In this edition, the South African, who took over from Virat Kohli, brought in newer ideas and approaches to the setup, eventually qualifying for the playoffs and finishing fourth in the table.

Former India opener Virender Sehwag, who has always been very vocal about his views, has said that RCB has been more consistent this season, while under Kohli, they changed and chopped their XI a lot, which hampered their progress.

Speaking on Cricbuzz, Sehwag said, "The arrival of Sanjay Bangar as head coach and a new captain (Faf du Plessis) has changed RCB's thinking. Virat Kohli had a thought process. If a player did not play well in two or three matches, he used to drop a player from the playing XI,"

"That has not happened this time. But Bangar and Du Plessis have kept the team almost consistent throughout. Except for Anuj Rawat, who had played the initial matches and was replaced by Rajat Patidar, I don't think they made any changes due to poor performance,"

"In bowling, they may have interchanged a spinner or a fast bowler, depending on the condition. They were not changed due to performance. This has been the change with the arrival of Sanjay Bangar and Faf du Plessis. There was too much chopping and changing under Virat Kohli's captaincy and under different coaches. That has changed."

RCB won 66 and lost 70 T20s of the 140 matches. Kohli led them from 2011 to 2021, whereas four games ended in no results. Nevertheless, the former India captain managed to reach the playoffs four times, finishing as runner-up once in 2016 and in the third position in 2015.

The swashbuckling opener from Najafgarh explained what process Faf is doing differently from Kohli.

"Virat Kohli himself gave a statement that sometimes he gives Faf, so advice, but ultimately the South African goes by his own thinking. If an Indian player had been captain and if Virat Kohli had given him some advice, he might have had to accept it under pressure. So, this is what has changed with du Plessis as captain," concluded the 43-year-old.

RCB, after winning the Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Wednesday evening (May 25), will now head to Ahmedabad to meet the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Friday at Narendra Modi Stadium in Qualifier 2.

The winner of Qualifier 2 will meet Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL final on Sunday.