Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) kept the speculations alive on Thursday as they remained tightlipped on the possibility of Virat Kohli returning as the captain of the franchise in the next IPL season. Amid the growing rumour that has left RCB fans excited, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif went unfiltered, reckoning that the decision by Kohli was down to him being inspired by Rohit Sharma's captaincy run in the T20 World Cup earlier this year.

Kohli led RCB between 2013 and 2021, making him the third longest serving skipper in IPL history with 143 such appearances, after MS Dhoni (226) and Rohit Sharma (158). RCB won 66 matches during that tenure, which also included a run to the final in 2016, where they had lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Speaking to Star Sports on Thursday, Kaif reminded that while it was Kohli who had relinquished the captaincy role in 2021 after his inability to end the long-standing title drought for the franchise, he reckoned that his decision to take up the role could be down to him being inspired by Rohit's leadership performance in the T20 World Cup earlier this summer.

“See, it was Kohli who had stepped down from the role and asked RCB to look for a replacement because he was not being able to win them that trophy. But if he has made up his mind having won the T20 World Cup with Rohit Sharma, with whom he has spent enough time. He must have been inspired. And if Kohli thinks he has learnt a lot from the campaign in the West Indies, and feels it is the right time to captain again. If he wants to lead RCB, no one can stop him from doing so,” he said.

What did RCB say on Kohli rumour?

With RCB having released Faf du Plessis, who led the franchise in the last three seasons, the possibilities of Kohli's return to leadership role grew stronger, but Mo Bobat, Director of Cricket for the franchise said that they are yet to decide on the role. He further said that Bengaluru, too, would be actively in search of a captain at the mega auction next month before making a final decision.

“I am sorry to disappoint everybody listening. We have not made any decision related to captaincy or on that (Kohli returning as skipper) as yet. We are open to options. The only obvious decision we made was not to retain Faf. He did a great job last year and the year before that. So from our perspective, we will keep a very open mind when we head to the auction,” he told JioCinema.

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