Former RCB player Moeen Ali has made a big revelation about how Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) nearly sacked Virat Kohli as captain in 2019. According to Moeen, Parthiv Patel was close to becoming the new captain.
Kohli became RCB captain in 2013 as he replaced Daniel Vettori. Virat Kohli was one of the best batters in the IPL. But under his captaincy, RCB did not win the title. The team struggled badly from 2017 to 2019. In two of those three years, RCB finished last.
Moeen Ali played for RCB from 2018 to 2020. He shared this inside story in a recent interview. He said there were serious talks about removing Virat Kohli as captain. He claimed this happened during Gary Kirsten’s time as head coach.
“Yes, I think he was. I’m quite sure he was,” Moeen said in an interview with Sports Tak. “In the final year when Gary Kirsten was there, Parthiv was in line to become captain. He had a brilliant cricketing brain. That was the talk at the time. I don’t know why it didn’t happen, but I’m sure he was seriously considered,” Moeen added.
ALSO READ Divya Deshmukh Wins FIDE Women’s World Cup, Becomes Grandmaster
Virat Kohli Stepped Down as RCB Captain due to International Workload Commitments
Kohli Continued as Captain Until 2021 Even though there were talks, RCB did not make the change. Kohli stayed as captain until 2021. He stepped down himself after that season because of workload management considering he was leading Team India across all formats. Faf du Plessis became the new captain after Kohli.
Kohli had good performances as a batter during his captaincy. He led RCB to the playoffs in 2020. But the team still could not win the IPL.
RCB finally won their first IPL title in 2025. Rajat Patidar was the captain. Kohli scored 657 runs in 15 matches that season. He played a big role in the title win.
Parthiv Patel, on the other hand, left RCB after 2019. He did not play in the IPL after that.
This revelation from Moeen Ali has surprised many fans. It shows that RCB came very close to a major leadership change.
