Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli has expressed his love for the franchise ahead of the season-opener against Mumbai Indians on Friday.
RCB are among the three teams yet to win an IPL title. They had reached the final thrice but failed to grab the elusive cup. Kohli said things have been ' very organic' in the Bangalore-based outfit he would not leave the team irrespective of the results.
Kohli, a part of RCB since the inaugural edition of the IPL, said it won't be possible to 'recreate' the love, respect and enjoyment that he feels at the Bangalore franchise.
"There are couple of other teams who have great fan bases but I think we are a team who get a lot of support and adulation wherever we play because we play a certain brand of cricket. We will play our heart out, we might not be composed enough in many difficult situations in the past but there has never been shortage of passion, commitment, intensity," Kohli said in a video posted by RCB.
"A lot of fun on the field and me as an individual have never felt that I wanna move away from the system just because I haven't won a title. That happens because things have been so organic, this cannot be created anywhere.
"This cannot be manufactured in a way that people are forcing me to play, and I am forcing the management to keep me, there has never been a conversation like that. So, things have been very organic. The respect, the care and the enjoyment I feel here, I don't think I can recreate anywhere else. The experience has been magical," he added.
Last year, RCB reached the play-offs stage of the tournament but were defeated by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the eliminator. To boost their chances of lifting maiden IPL title, RCB got hold of stars like Glenn Maxwell and Kylie Jamieson in the IPL 2021 mini-auction held earlier this year.
"It feels surreal. Honestly, it doesn't feel like we went away for too long as there was a lot of cricket in between as well but yeah, very excited that we are playing in India again.
"Although in a different way, in a different setting. I am very optimistic and yes I have a good feeling this time around," Kohli had said on his arrival in Chennai for the upcoming season.
