IPL 2022: 3 Australians who won the league as captain

IPL 2022 reaches its climax tonight. One out of the two young captains in Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson will achieve ultimate glory in front of a crowd that could be close to 1,00,000.

If Pandya wins, it will be a fairy-tale ending for the Gujarat Titans in their inaugural season. If Samson makes it, it will be the second trophy for the Rajasthan Royals, after they won the very first season of IPL, in 2008.

Either way, it will be a first-time captain to win the title today. In the past five seasons, no new captains have won the IPL. All five previous titles have either been won by Rohit Sharma or by MS Dhoni. In total, there have been 6 individuals who have won the IPL as captain.

Three of those are Indians, namely Rohit Sharma (5 titles), MS Dhoni (4 titles), and Gautam Gambhir (2 titles). Incredibly, the remaining three are all Australians. So, long story short, nobody who is not Indian or Australian has ever won the IPL as captain.

Today, as we await a seventh IPL-winning captain, let us take a look at the three Australians who have led their teams to the coveted trophy.

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#1. Adam GIlchrist (IPL 2009)

Deccan Chargers, the former franchise based out of Hyderabad, had a poor first season in 2008. Considered one of the strongest teams on paper, the Deccan Chargers were the recipients of the first wooden spoon in the Indian Premier League history. Their icon player in VVS Laxman looked out of his depth in the T20s.

That was when Adam GIlchrist was appointed captain, along with Darren Lehmann as coach. Taking over from someone as respected as Laxman, GIlchrist showed no signs of nerves and took his team to the top of the points table with 10 wins from 14 games.

His telling contribution as a batsman, however, came in the semis. Chasing 154 against Delhi Daredevils (Delhi Capitals now), Gilchrist launched a furious assault on Delhi bowling, plundering 85 from 35 balls. Galvanised by this leader's knock, the team that stood last in 2008 managed to win the trophy in 2009.

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#2. David Warner (IPL 2016)

Of all the seasons gone by, if there is one season that arouses awe and nostalgia among fans, it is the 2016 season. But most people remember it for Virat Kohli and RCB's dream run (almost). People conveniently forget that David Warner, captain of SunRisers Hyderabad, led his team to glory that very year.

In what was perhaps the single greatest performance ever by a player in a season in IPL history, Warner scored 848 runs in 17 matches, at an average of 60.57, and a strike rate of 151.43. What's more, he scored 93(58) in Qualifier 2 against Gujarat Lions, and followed it up with 69(38) in the all-important final against RCB.

In an epic final, SRH took their maiden title, winning by a slim margin of eight runs, defending a mammoth score of 208. Warner became the third overseas (read 'Australian') captain to win the Indian Premier League.

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3- Shane Warne (IPL 2008)

As the Rajasthan Royals bid for their second title in their second-ever final in the league's history, all thoughts must go out to the 'First Royal' Shane Warne. Of the eight teams in the first season, if their was one that was most unfancied to win the title, it was the Rajasthan Royals.

With no icon player unlike most of the other teams, the Rajasthan Royals neither had glamour, nor experience. But slowly the magician weaved his spell, and people began to take notice.

RR was then a bunch of novices to the big game: Swapnil Asnodkar, Siddharth Trivedi, and a certain Ravindra Jadeja (yes, you read it right) to name a few.

Despite the above, Shane Warne's RR won an incredible 11 out of 14 league games to top the table. Against a team of superstars in CSK in the final, the young guns showed no signs of nerves. In what was a last-ball affair, Rajasthan capped off their incredible story and took home the first-ever IPL title.

So who is it going to be today? Will Gujarat Titans replicate Rajasthan's inaugural season? Or will the 'Men in Pink' regain the title after 14 long years?