Follow UsNewly-appointed Royal CHallengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Faf du Plessis was full of praise for his predecessor Virat Kohli, crediting him for changing the face of Indian cricket.
While praising his batting, du Plessis also complemented his leadership which has taken India to great heights, adding that his qualities will still be required for the upcoming season.
Kohli stepped down as the T20I captain at the end of the T20 World Cup, was forced to give up ODI captaincy and then resigned as India's most successful Test captain following the South Africa tour.
“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," du Plessis said during the RCB Unbox event.
"So huge respect for what he has done with the bat in his hand, but also captaincy perspective."
“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.
Du Plessis and Kohli have come up against each other as leaders of their respective countries on eight occasions, with the latter coming out on top six times. "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," the former South Africa skipper said.
"Apart from Kohli, the team has players like Glen Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik, who have captaincy expertise in franchise cricket," he added.
RCB will begin their IPL 2022 campaign on March 27 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai.