There Are Captains And There Are Leaders, Kohli Definitely A Leader: Harshal Patel
Mumbai: Virat Kohli may not captain Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but pacer Harshal Patel said Kohli is “definitely a leader”, whether he is leading the team or not.
Kohli’s captaincy era in the IPL came to an end on Monday as RCB suffered a four-wicket defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Eliminator. Also Read: What’s The Point Of Being A Terrible Person: Maxwell To Trolls After RCB’s IPL 2021 Exit
Pacer Harshal Patel lavished praise on Kohli and thanked him for his contributions to RCBover the years.
“Virat gives his space to the bowlers, lets you execute your plans. Grateful to him. I have learned a lot playing with him since 2012. In terms of his captaincy, there are captains, and there are leaders. He is definitely a leader,” said Harshal in the post-match press conference. Also Read: Loyalty Matters More To Me Than Worldly Pleasures: Kohli On Staying With RCB
She said, “Just because he will no longer have the captaincy tag, it doesn’t make him less of a leader. I just want to thank him for his contributions to the team and my growth and whenever he supported me when I was down,” he added.
Harshal said, “We are going to celebrate his contribution. It would have been nice to celebrate with the trophy in our hands. But it was not to be. His contribution is huge, we are definitely going to celebrate it.”
When the UAE leg of IPL 2021 resumed, Kohli announced that he would step down as the captain of the franchise after the ongoing edition. Kohli became a regular captain at the Royal Challengers in 2013 and has been a part of the franchise as a player since the inception of the IPL in 2008.
Under Virat Kohli, RCB had reached the finals of IPL in 2016 and it was in the same edition that Kohli registered the most number of runs by a battery in a single season.
However, after that RCB found the going tough and the side failed to reach the playoffs in three consecutive years and the jinx was finally broken in 2020. In the 140 matches he captained in IPL, Kohli won 66 and lost 70 while four were no results.
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