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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) did not name their vice captain before the start of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. On April 19, when skipper Faf du Plessis could not take the field immediately after his 95-run knock against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), former skipper Virat Kohli took over the reins and led the side once again.
Kohli donned the captaincy hat for a couple of overs. Du Plessis took control of the proceedings.
Earlier in the 13th over of RCB’s innings, Du Plessis tried to play the scoop shot off Dushmantha Chameera but could not get under the ball. He scampered for a single but on his way to the non-striker’s end, he was hit by LSG skipper KL Rahul’s throw on his left wrist. Rahul apologised for the misdirected throw. The RCB skipper was batting on 41 off 33 deliveries then.
However, the throw did not have a major impact on Du Plessis’ acceleration in the latter part of the innings. In the next over, he got to his half-century from 40 deliveries.
In the next few overs, Du Plessis broke free and got close to his maiden IPL century. In the last over, Du Plessis could not breach three figures and got dismissed by Marcus Stoinis off the penultimate delivery of the innings. The opener scored 96 runs from 64 deliveries including 11 fours and two sixes.
It was Du Plessis’ IPL career’s third score in the 90s. He had scored 96 runs against Punjab Kings in 2019. Two seasons later, he scored unbeaten 95 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Before second phase of IPL 2021, Kohli had announced that he will let go off the captaincy after the season. He captained RCB for 140 games with a win percentage of 48.16. His best season as captain and as a batter came in 2016 when RCB reached the final against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
