Former England swashbuckling batter Kevin Pietersen has urged Virat Kohli to leave Royal Challengers Bengaluru after their Indian Premier League 2024 elimination. RCB lost the Eliminator contest against Rajasthan Royals by four wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
Pietersen said Kohli deserves to play in a team that could help him win the IPL trophy. Kohli has been playing with RCB since the inception of the tournament but has failed to go all the way despite making three finals.
This was the ninth time when RCB entered the IPL playoffs but was knocked out by RR. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli was once again at his absolute best for RCB, scoring 741 runs in 15 innings at an average of 61.75 and a strike rate of 154.69. Kohli is currently the highest run-getter of the tournament and he is likely to get the Orange Cap award.
“I have said it before and I will say it again — the greats of the game in other sports, have left teams to go and seek glory somewhere else. When he has tried and tried so hard — won the Orange Cap yet again and done so much yet again and the franchise fails again. I understand for the brand of the team and the commercial value he brings to the team… But Virat Kohli deserves a trophy. He deserves to play in a team that could help him to get that trophy,” said Pietersen.
Pietersen added that Kohli should go to Delhi Capitals for the upcoming seasons as he is from Delhi.
“I actually think it should be Delhi. Delhi is the place where Virat needs to go. Virat can go away, and stay at home most of the time, I know he has a home in Delhi. He has a young family. He can spend more time there. He is a Delhi boy. Why can’t he go back? Delhi are as desperate as Bengaluru. I think it’s about time Virat thought long and hard. Beckham left, Ronaldo left, Messi left, Harry Kane just left Spurs and went to Bayern Munich,” said Pietersen.
Kohli has confirmed that he wants to keep playing for RCB despite not bagging a single title. RCB is also expected to retain Virat Kohli ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction.
