"He's Got Respect Of Everyone": Glenn Maxwell On New RCB Captain Faf Du Plessis

With the new Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season having recently begun, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have been having a topsy-turvy campaign this year. The franchise saw Virat Kohli step down from captaincy after IPL 2021 and Faf du Plessis was appointed as skipper ahead of IPL 2022. The veteran batter won the trophy last year with CSK and was purchased by RCB for Rs 7 crore during the mega auction. Speaking exclusively on RCB Bold Diaries, all-rounder Glenn Maxwell revealed that South African cricketer has the respect of everyone within the outfit. "I've had a few messages before the tournament. I think I was probably more focussed on my wedding sort of before that. Knowing obviously that he was going to be the captain, I was in touch with the coaches right throughout the auction, and that process as well. (I) still wanted to be heavily involved in moulding our team going forward", he said.

"I think that was a big part of the three guys that were retained. We had to have those guys involved to make sure we had the right balance going forward with that squad and we are really happy with the squad that we have accumulated."

"We're really happy with Faf (du Plessis) at the helm. We think he's going to do a great job for the franchise and even the way he started, you can tell he's got the respect of everyone in the room. Not only does he lead by example, with his actions, but he also performs really well. To have a guy of his quality and caper up the top of the order is something that's great for the franchise. And hopefully, the senior guys around can help him out as well."

"So, it's not just him shouldering all that workload we'd potentially have seen in the previous years at RCB. To have, I suppose, a solid leadership group behind him to sort of feel like it's not just him out there having to shoulder all the load. Hopefully, we can help him out at different stages. But we're very fortunate with the squad that we've got. We believe it's a winning squad", he further added.

This season, Du Plessis is currently RCB's highest run-getter and has smacked 122 runs in three games.

During IPL 2021, he finished second in the Orange Cap race, with 633 runs from 16 fixtures.

Topics mentioned in this article

Royal Challengers Bangalore Glenn Maxwell Faf du Plessis IPL 2022 Cricket