'No chance, I will...': Virat Kohli recalls how he turned down another franchise's offer and remained at RCB

Virat Kohli remains the only player in Indian Premier League (IPL) history to have played for a single franchise since the tournament's inception in 2008. Kohli has been part of the three-time runners-up Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and continues to be a big name in the franchise.

Kohli has had a stellar run in the RCB franchise. In the initial years, he was part of the dressing room which featured yesteryear greats such as Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Jacques Kallis, Ross Taylor, Kevin Pietersen, etc. and then formed a lethan trio with Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers. He led the franchise to the final in IPL 2016 and captained them for several years before resigning after 2021 season. Recently, the 34-year-old Kohli revealed how he was interested to join another franchise during IPL's early years but they didn't show much interest and when they came back to him, he rejected their offer for RCB's relentless backing.

Speaking to Robin Uthappa -- a former RCB player -- during an interview for JioCinema, Kohli said, “It's been amazing. Why I value this partnership and journey with RCB so much, is because in the first 3 years of the IPL, they backed me a lot. Even when the retentions happened, they said, 'we want to retain you'. My only feedback to Ray Jennings at the time was 'I want to bat in top-order. I bat at 3 for India, and I want to bat at 3'. And they said, 'okay, you will bat at 3'. They showed faith in me at the time when I needed it. I was growing in my international career as well,” Kohli told Robin Uthappa during an interview forJioCinema.

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Kohli further added, "That is of more value for me. I won't take names but another franchise who I spoke to at the time... they were not even keen enough to listen to me. I was playing lower down the order at the time (5-6). I was like, ‘if I could get the opportunity to bat in the top of the order somewhere else...’ The same franchise, because I had played for India and performed in 2011, before the retention, came to me and said, 'can you please come to the auction?' I said, ‘no chance. I will always be with the franchise that backs me’."

Kohli is a legend of IPL. He is the leading run-getter with 6,844 runs with five centuries at an average of 36.59 and a strike rate of 129.67. RCB are not off to a great start in IPL 2023, having won only two out of their first five games and currently occupy the eighth position in the overall standings.