Indian cricketer Virat Kohli returned as captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) team for the first time since 2021 in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Punjab Kings on Thursday. Regular skipper Faf du Plessis was unable to play due to an injury. Kohli stated that Du Plessis would take part in the game as an Impact Player. Kohli had previously led RCB from 2013 to 2021 and won 66 games for the team. He led RCB in 140 games overall before the match against Punjab Kings.
Meanwhile, Shikhar Dhawan missed another game for Punjab Kings due to a shoulder injury, with stand-in skipper Sam Curran continuing in his absence. Curran won the toss and sent RCB to bat first. With RCB batting first, Du Plessis opened the batting for Kohli. Once Du Plessis was dismissed, Vijaykumar came in as a replacement substitute. England batter Liam Livingstone was finally included in the PBKS side along with Nathan Ellis, while South African quick Kagiso Rabada and opening batter Prabhsimran Singh missed out from the playing XI.
The playing XIs were as follows:
Punjab Kings: Atharva Taide, Matthew Short, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran (c), Jitesh Sharma (w), Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), Faf du Plessis, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (w), Wanindu Hasaranga, Suyash Prabhudessai, Harshal Patel, Wayne Parnell, Mohammed Siraj.
