Courtesy: X
Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) owner Vijay Mallya appeared in an interview with the famous podcaster Raj Shamani. During the chat, he included distinguished names on the list of his dream players for Challengers. Following RCB’s maiden title win, Mallya has garnered media attention for his tweets related to the popular franchise and its star player, Virat Kohli. In a chat with Shamani, Mallya took the names of Mumbai Indians (MI) veterans Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav in his wishlist of four players he would love to see donning the RCB jersey.
Filling the other two spots, he picked up Delhi Capitals (DC) star batter KL Rahul and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper Rishabh Pant. “If dreams could come true, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul. If I had these four, I wouldn’t need anybody else and would win the trophy," remarked Mallya in the full video on the Raj Shamani podcast on YouTube. Rahul kicked off his IPL journey with RCB in 2013. However, he later became a part of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for the next two seasons but in 2016, he was seen in RCB colours again. On his return, the right-handed batter scored 397 runs in 12 innings. Later in 2018, Rahul went on to captain Punjab Kings (PBKS).
Watch the video here:
Vijay Mallya also recalled historic bidding for Virat Kohli in 2008
In his conversation with Raj, Vijay Mallya also remembered bidding for Virat Kohli following the right-handed batter’s scintillating batting and captaincy performance for India in the U-19 World Cup 2008. Kohli’s popularity has played a vital role in making RCB one of the most popular teams in the cash-rich league.
“Shortly before the actual selection process, they were playing the U-19 World Cup and I was very impressed and so I picked him and you know it’s wonderful 18 years later, he’s still there. Yeah he was a young kid at that time when I got him. But you know, full of energy, great talent and you know one of the greatest Indian cricketers ever,” said Mallya, replying to the question why he picked up Virat at such a young age.
In the last 18 years, Kohli is the only player who has represented only one team in IPL. The 36-year-old has racked up 8661 runs for RCB in 267 matches. With these numbers, he is also the most successful batter in the league.
