Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) all-rounder Moeen Ali has revealed that the franchise considered replacing Virat Kohli as captain in the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL), according to Indian media reports on Monday.

RCB finished last on the table in the 2019 IPL season, losing eight of the 14 league matches and winning only five. Despite poor performance, Virat Kohli was retained as captain, but coach Gary Kirsten was sacked. 

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Speaking in an interview, Moeen Ali said that Parthiv Patel was in line to replace Virat Kohli, but he did not know why the decision was not materialised. 

“In the final year when Gary Kirsten was there-after the first year, I believe-Parthiv was in line to become captain. He had a brilliant cricketing brain. That was the talk at the time. I don’t know what happened or why it didn’t materialise, but I’m sure he was seriously considered for the role,” Ali said.

The then-head coach of RCB, Kirsten, suggested structural changes at the RCB after a dismal 2019 IPL season.

“There are some structural changes that need to be made that have maybe been around for quite a long time,” Kirsten had said in May 2019. 

“This is my first year as the head coach, so I’ve got a better understanding of what those are. We’ll certainly discuss with our owners and look into that for next year.”

Kohli captained the RCB for two more years after the 2019 IPL season before resigning as captain in 2021. After Kirsten’s removal, former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson was appointed as the Director of Cricket, while Australia’s Simon Katich took over as head coach of RCB. 

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