RCB Came Close To Sacking Virat Kohli In 2019, Make This Star Captain: Report
During Virat Kohli's captaincy stint, RCB reached final in 2016 but lost against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
- Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali revealed that RCB were looking sack Virat Kohli from captaincy in 2019
- Kohli failed to led RCB to an IPL title during his captaincy stint
- Moeen also revealed that the franchise was looking to promote Parthiv Patel as the new skipper
Star batter Virat Kohli is undoubtedly one of the greatest cricketers ever to play the gentleman's game. Apart from his vast contributions made for Team India in international cricket, Kohli has immensely contributed for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL and took them to new heights. Being associated with the franchise since the inaugural season in 2008, Kohli played many match-winning knocks for them and even captained the team from 2013 to 2021. RCB won their maiden IPL title in 2025 under the captaincy of Rajat Patidar, after beating Punjab Kings in the final.
During Kohli's captaincy stint, RCB reached final in 2016 but lost against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Despite his strong show with the bat, Kohli was often criticised for his style of captaincy and RCB's title drought.
Recently, former England all-rounder Moeen Ali, who was once a part of RCB's squad, revealed that the franchise was looking to sack Kohli from captaincy during IPL 2019 and planning to promote wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel as the new skipper.
"Yes, I think he was. I'm quite sure he was. In the final year when Gary Kirsten was there-after the first year, I believe-Parthiv was in line to become captain. He had a brilliant cricketing brain," Moeen said on Sports Tak.
"That was the talk at the time. I don't know what happened or why it didn't materialise, but I'm sure he was seriously considered for the role," he added.
However, Kohli remained RCB's skipper in 2019 and stayed in the role before stepping down himself after 2021 to manage his workload.
Talking about Parthiv, the former wicketkeeper-batter played 139 matches in the IPL and scored 2,848 runs. He also won multiple titles with Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians. His last appearance came in 2019 with RCB. In IPL 2025, he joined Gujarat Titans as the mentor.
RCB's IPL title drought came to an after thy defeated Punjab Kings in the summit clash of 2025 by just six runs.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
India Cricket Team
Virat Kohli
Moeen Ali
Parthiv Patel