JOIN USEver since he was inducted into the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s set-up in 2008, Virat Kohli has been tipped to lead the side.
He gets his opportunity in the sixth edition and ahead of his first assignment, the youngster spoke to the media.
On the captaincy challenge: I have always enjoyed captaincy. Last year as well and even in the year before that whatever chances I have got to captain, I have really enjoyed it.
But this time it’s a full time thing; getting together the team composition and all that you know is pretty exciting to be honest. It’s not something I take as a pressure thing but it’s something that I really enjoy and I’m honoured to captain players who have been playing for more than 20 years. Growing up I have seen them on TV and now I get a chance to captain them.
On Zaheer Khan’s fitness and AB de Villiers’ absence: Zak has got a bit of side strain and he is about 70 to 80 per cent fit and yeah he will be ready to go in about a couple of games.
Yeah AB will be missed initially obviously. A guy of his capabilities would be missed and he has been batting beautifully in the recent times as well. But yeah we have guys who can cover up as well, international cricketers and good Twenty20 players. Yeah we have a good combination but when AB is in flight, it is a great thing for us and he definitely will be missed.
On Anil Kumble’s exit: He was always someone who would help players in any way we wanted. Any sort of issue, regarding cricket or any other issue going around, he will help. He will be missed. He was a great mentor to guys. He groomed some of them and they came up really well in IPL. Like (Sreenath) Arvind in 2011, Mayank Agarwal, A Mithun all have performed well. He will definitely be missed and he will have been a good guy to have.