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Faf du Plessis best candidate to lead RCB: Mike Hesson
Follow UsThe former South Africa skipper fought off competition from the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik for the captaincy role
Faf du Plessis was named the new captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Saturday (March 12). He was brought into the team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 auction for INR 7 crore after previously representing Chennai Super Kings (CSK), winning the title twice between 2018 and 2021.
RCB director of cricket Mike Hesson believes that du Plessis is the right candidate to lead the franchise, following Virat Kohli's resignation at the end of last season. “We just want the best candidate for the job. And there’s no doubt in our mind that Faf is the guy for that,” Hesson said.
“It was a little bit of both. We obviously had Maxwell and Virat to have huge captaincy experience that we retained."
"We felt within our leadership group we wanted to expand on that and also Harshal Patel as well. Who we wanted to buy back. So it was more about growing our leadership group and carrying on from that”
Du Plessis fought off competition from Glenn Maxwell and yet another new acquisition Dinesh Karthik for the captaincy role.
“Obviously, Faf was right up the top of that list in terms of whom we were wanting to get. It was little bit of both. I know how well respected he is. I know tactically sound he is. We have the likes of Virat, Maxi (Maxwell), DK who is new to the group.”
Hesson also revealed the fact that du Plessis is an overseas player did not influence the decision-making.
“When you look to decide who’s the most suitable candidate for the role, you don’t necessarily decide whether they’re an Indian player or an overseas player. Sure the seven Indians and there’s four overseas — we know the maths”, Hesson explained.
“The reality is that Faf is good enough to play every single game anyway. So that’s not a question."
"Therefore you just look at who’s the guy you gonna work with the leaders in the group and get the best out of the younger guys, build relationships and help develop that RCB culture that we want."
RCB begin their IPL 2022 campaign against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai on March 27.