Former India cricketer Kris Srikkanth has said that Virat Kohli must have wanted to focus entirely on his batting and hence refused the opportunity to lead the Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2025. He praised Bangalore's decision to appoint Rajat Patidar as their new captain, citing reduced expectations on the latter as a positive factor for his captaincy.

Bangalore surprised many by announcing Patidar as their fourth Indian skipper on February 13. While many had expected Kohli to be the obvious choice after Faf du Plessis' departure, the former became an option after he led Madhya Pradesh to the finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Rumours had been rife about a potential return of Kohli to the captaincy role after stepping down four years back, but they were put to rest.

"I think Virat would have said no to the captaincy. He would have said 'I want to focus on batting'. I think all this must have happened in consultation with Virat Kohli," Srikkanth said while speaking on his YouTube channel.

"Rajat Patidar is a good choice. He has been doing well in the IPL. The good thing is he will not have a lot of expectations. When we appointed Dhoni in 2007 as the T20 World Cup captain, not a lot was expected of him and the team," Srikkanth said.

Kohli on Thursday backed the appointment of Patidar as Bangalore's new captain, saying that the batter has 'earned the right to be in this position' with his consistency and discipline.

Patidar replaced du Plessis, who was released from the team in 2024 and was bought by the Delhi Capitals, who are yet to announce their captain for IPL 2025.

"I am here to inform everyone like the others will do as well, that Rajat Patidar is going to be the new captain of RCB. Rajat, firstly I want to congratulate you and wish you all the very best," Kohli said.

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