Bangalore, Mar 27: Royal Challengers Bangalore coach Ray Jennings said that Virat Kohli’s stint as skipper of the Bangalore-based side will be the ‘stepping stone’ for the youngster to take over from Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the captain of the Indian side.
Kohli, who has been touted as Dhoni’s successor for some time now, replaced Daniel Vettori as the skipper for the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League.
“I said it three years ago, Kohli will captain India but he has to get his captaincy ways right because Dhoni is not going to be around for a long time and he has to be ready. I think the Royal Challengers are a stepping stone for Kohli to take over from Dhoni (as Indian skipper),” said the South African on the sidelines of the team’s practice session at the M?Chinnaswamy stadium on Tuesday.
“He has the captaincy ability, he is a superb human being and he is fiery which is great for the side.”
When asked about how Kohli’s run as skipper at RCB could groom him for the bigger league, Jennings explained: “He is a superb cricketer, probably one of the best at his age in the world. All we got to do is give him the experience and lead him. He is a young guy and I am going to be there to help him.”
Jennings was sure that the decision to elevate Kohli was not detrimental to the team’s progress. “To replace Vettori with Kohli is not a downward move. He is a lovely India guy looking to captain India soon. It is a positive move from his and RCB’s point of view.
He is going to gain experience from guys like AB de Villiers, (Tillakaratne)?Dilshan, (Chris) Gayle and Vettori so there is a lot of support. I hope Virat becomes the player we all want him to become,” concluded the 58-year-old.
Meanwhile, a few RCB players reported for the season’s opening practice session. Under Jennings’ watchful eyes, Pankaj Singh, Vijay Zol, Sheldon Jackson, Abhinav Mukund, Syed Mohammed, Harshal Patel, Arun Karthik, KP Appanna and Jaydev Unadkat went through the drills.
Comments
Add new comment