The Indian Premier League (IPL) will kick start on March 31 with a match between four-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT). On one end would be the old warhorse Mahendra Singh Dhoni and on the other will be his protege Hardik Pandya. Both are superstars in their own right and carry oodles of charisma, which makes them the talismanic leaders they are. But wait! Dhoni and Pandya are not the only ones in the fray. There are eight other commanders, some new and raw and others highly seasoned, who will all be looking to guide their troops to title triumph.
In the IPL this year four franchises will have new captains, a couple of them forced to look elsewhere due to injuries to their regular skippers and the rest due to the exit of their skippers from last year. Let’s meet the men who matter for all the 10 teams in the competition:
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1. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings)
Captaincy skills of Dhoni are well-known. The ace wicketkeeper-batsman has been at the helm at CSK since the inaugural season of the IPL in 2008. Since then, he has gone on to lead the team to four IPL titles (2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021) and five runners-up finishes (2008, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2019). This has made them the team to reach the most number of finals (9). They also hold the record for most playoff appearances (11). Indeed under Dhoni, the Chennai franchise has notched up the highest win percentage (58.41%) among IPL teams. Dhoni captained Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) in 2016 after CSK were hit by a two-year ban.
As the captain of those two teams, Dhoni has an overall IPL record of 123 wins in 210 matches, giving him a win percentage of 58.85%. Dhoni has led from the front as a player too, scoring 4,978 runs and bagging 135 catches and 39 stumpings in 234 matches to date. Such has been Dhoni’s aura that even current IPL captains Pandya and Faf du Plessis, and Steve Smith, who had captained Dhoni in 2017 at RPS, have acknowledged their indebtedness to him.
Dhoni had given up the CSK captaincy at the start of the IPL last season and Ravindra Jadeja had taken over. However, after six defeats in eight matches, the captaincy of the side passed back to Dhoni. The CSK legend will look to help his team overcome the ghosts of last year when the franchise finished ninth out of 10 teams.
2. Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians)
The current captain of the Indian national side has been leading the Mumbai franchise since 2013. He led the side to title triumph in its first season itself and never looked back. Four more titles followed in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020, making Mumbai Indians the most successful franchise in IPL history. Rohit has captained MI in 143 matches and his great run as their skipper has seen him register the second-highest number of wins in IPL matches (79) after Dhoni, giving him a win percentage of 56.64%. He has led by example wielding the willow to good effect. Rohit has amassed 3,904 runs, including 26 fifties between 2013 and 2022. Rohit will be looking to overturn MI’s misfortunes last year that saw them finishing last.
3. Faf du Plessis (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
Former South African captain du Plessis was named the captain of the Bangalore franchise after their long-term leader Virat Kohli stepped down. Du Plessis has led his country with distinction winning 24 out of 40 T20I matches. He has an impressive 56.25% win percentage as captain in the IPL, leading RCB to seven wins out of nine matches overall and a playoff finish in 2022. RCB beat Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator but lost to Rajasthan Royals in the second qualifier as it was another season of so near but yet so far. As a batsman, du Plessis scored 468 runs at a strike rate of 127.52 in 2022. This year, he will be looking to inspire RCB to win the IPL title at last.
4. Hardik Pandya (Gujarat Titans)
The younger Pandya led his side the Gujarat Titans to clinch the title in their very first year, emulating the late Shane Warne, who had won with Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural season in 2008. He was in sublime form with both bat and ball, scoring 487 runs and taking eight wickets in 15 matches last year. He impressed one and all and according to cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar, the fact that Pandya would be such a “raging success" as IPL captain was not expected. According to GT’s R Sai Kishore, Pandya was very similar to Dhoni in calmly handling situations. Pandya has captained India in 11 T20Is and won eight of them.
5. KL Rahul (Lucknow Super Giants)
Rahul has been under fire recently over his batting form for the Indian team, but he has been an absolute behemoth in the IPL and holds the record for the fastest fifty in the tournament. Under Rahul’s captaincy, debutants LSG finished third on the table last year, winning nine out of their 14 group matches. They qualified for the playoffs but lost out to RCB in the Eliminator. Rahul’s captaincy career in the IPL is spread over 2020 to 2022 and he has led Punjab Kings, their earlier avatar Kings XI Punjab and LSG. He has a 50% win ratio, winning 20 and losing 20 out of his 42 matches as captain. As a batsman, he scored 600-plus runs in all three seasons (2020, 2021 and 2022) as captain, amassing 1,912 runs in 42 matches.
Also read – IPL 2023: New KKR Captain Nitish Rana Says, ‘Great Opportunity for Me to Showcase My Leadership Skills’
6. Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals)
Samson had already been impressive with the bat and the gloves and as captain, he took Rajasthan Royals to the final of the IPL for the first time since 2008. However, Samson’s RR fell at the last hurdle, losing the summit clash to Gujarat Titans by seven wickets. RR under Samson, finished second on the table, winning nine out of their 14 group matches. RR lost the first qualifier to GT but then pipped RCB in the second qualifier to set up a grand finale against GT. Samson had led the RR in the 2021 season as well, but that season was forgettable, with the side ending up seventh out of eight teams.
In two seasons at the helm of RR, Samson has a win percentage of 48.38%, with 15 wins out of 31 matches. He has amassed 942 runs in 31 matches as captain. He has also taken 21 catches and effected six stumpings.
7. Shikhar Dhawan (Punjab Kings)
Dhawan was named the captain of the Punjab franchise after last season’s captain Mayank Agarwal migrated to Sunrisers Hyderabad. Dhawan doesn’t have a significant IPL captaincy experience, having led in just 11 matches for Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad over the period from 2014 to 2022, winning just four of those matches.
Dhawan has some experience as captain of the Indian side too, having led the team in 12 ODIs and three T20Is. The Dhawan-led India have won seven ODIs and one T20I. As a batsman in the IPL, Dhawan has been extremely successful. He is second on the list of highest run-getters, with a tally of 6,244 runs from 206 matches. He has also hit the most number of fours (701).
8. Aiden Markram (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
The South African was thrust into the captaincy of the 2016 champions after last year’s skipper Kane Williamson was released. Williamson, who had led the Sunrisers to the final of the 2018 edition, had a pretty ordinary season in 2022 and said that he wasn’t surprised by SRH’s decision.
Markram has played two seasons of the IPL, scoring 527 runs in 20 matches for Punjab Kings and SRH at an average of 40.54. He has led South Africa in ODIs and T20Is and had also guided Sunrisers Eastern Cape to win the SA20 title. However, the young skipper won’t be available for SRH’s first match on April 2 against Rajasthan Royals as he will focus on South Africa’s ODI series against the Netherlands, which is crucial for the Proteas’ direct entry to the ICC World Cup later this year. SRH veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead the side in Markram’s absence.
9. David Warner (Delhi Capitals)
Warner, who had captained SRH to their only IPL title win seven years back was given the captaincy of the Delhi side after regular captain Rishabh Pant met a horrific car crash and, as a result of which, was put out of action for an indefinite period. Warner has been one of the more successful captains in IPL history, having led Delhi Capitals’ previous avatar Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad for a total of 69 matches over a period from 2013 to 2021.
He has won 35 out of the matches he has captained his side, which gives him a win percentage of 52.17. He is third on the list of highest run-getters, with 5,881 in 162 matches and has won the Orange Cap thrice for being the highest run scorer.
10. Nitish Rana (Kolkata Knight Riders)
The 29-year-old Nitish Rana was made the captain of the Kolkata-based franchise with regular captain Shreyas Iyer missing due to injury. The stylish left-hander had really come into the spotlight during the 2017 season when he was with Mumbai Indians. He scored 333 runs that year and since then has consistently been scoring more than 300 runs per IPL season. He joined KKR in 2018 and has so far amassed 2,181 career runs in the IPL.
Rana has played three international matches for India in limited-overs formats. Talking about his captaincy experience, Rana has led Delhi in domestic cricket. Rana, however, may not need to lead KKR for the entire season as according to latest reports, Iyer has postponed his surgery and the KKR team management hopes he will be available at least for some time during the season.
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