IPL 2022: Why is RCB persisting with 37-year-old Faf du Plessis as a captain?

When Mike Hesson in RCB’s podcast mentioned his team’s long-term plan, he had Faf du Plessis in mind. RCB’s Director of Cricket Operations has chalked out a 3-year-long plan with Faf du Plessis at the helm of affairs at Royal Challengers Bangalore.

At the age of 37, Faf's fitness cannot be challenged & with Mike Hesson's statement, it is clear that RCB management is not planning to hand the reins to a younger cricketer in the near future. While his predecessor, Virat Kohli, who is 33 currently might turn out to be their alternate choice, it is almost unlikely that he will take up the top job again.

While Faf du Plessis, at 37, is still persistent with his form. With 443 runs at a strike rate of 130, the skipper is the team’s highest runscorer in IPL 2022. However, this is not the case with the much-loved ‘Thala’ of Chennai Super Kings. MSD in Chennai’s last league game confirmed that he will lead CSK in 2023 as well.

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While more and more teams are looking for younger players as an option in the cash-rich league, CSK and RCB have turned out to be the only 2 teams who seemingly aren’t ready to let go of their old guards as 8 teams out of the 10 teams in the league have skippers who are below the age of 35.