5 players who gave up IPL captaincy mid-season

Cricket is a unique sport that often requires contributions from more than one player to win a game. In order to effect a run-out, for example, the fielder has to throw the ball at a proper height. And the receiver shouldn't fumble in order to stand a chance to dismiss the batsman.

On that note, another unique aspect about the sport is the role of a captain.

From making timely bowling changes to setting fields and analysing match situations, a cricket captain has a pivotal role to play. In a T20 tournament like the Indian Premier League, the role assumes even more importance. There is an added responsibility to strike an optimum balance between Indian and overseas players in the playing XI.

Many IPL captains have been successful in their respective roles. They have built strong teams and won titles for their respective franchises. But there have been a few captains who weren't able to achieve their objectives. On some occasions, players have relinquished their captaincy mid-season, for the benefit of the team. Here's a look at 5 such captains.

# 1: Ricky Ponting (Mumbai Indians)

Rohit Sharma (left) took up the captaincy responsibility from Ricky Ponting (right). Shreyas Iyer (left) took over the reins of Delhi Capitals from Gautam Gambhir (right).

Mumbai Indians (MI) were the perennial under-achievers for the first five seasons of the IPL. Despite boasting some of the best players in the world, they couldn't taste much success. Injuries and controversies meant that they had to continually change their captains.

In the first four seasons, they had as many different captains in Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Shaun Pollock, and Dwayne Bravo respectively. Just to solve the captaincy conundrum, Mumbai bought Ricky Ponting in the 2013 auctions. MI fans were excited to have the Australian as their captain.

The franchise made a good start by winning three of their first four games. But their opening partnerships weren't providing good starts. Ponting's strike-rate wasn't up to T20 standards. His form was a worrying factor and he decided to drop himself from the team altogether. Young Rohit Sharma was given the responsibility of leading the side.

It inspired him to do well with the bat as well, scoring 538 runs that season. Sharma also inspired his team to a maiden IPL title. Since then, he has been impressive as a leader. In his seven years as captain, he has won four IPL titles. Sharma's captaincy skills were evident in the way MI successfully defended below-par scores to win the 2017 and 2019 final.

# 2: Gautam Gambhir (Delhi Capitals)

Having failed to establish a team leader during the first decade of the IPL, Delhi Capitals went for a revamp in the 2018 auctions. The franchise decided to build a team around their homeboy and former captain Gautam Gambhir. Expectedly, he was appointed as the person to lead the team for the 2018 season.

Gambhir started the season well with the bat, scoring a 50 in the first game. But he couldn't sustain his good form for long as he scored a mere 30 runs in the next 5 games. It coincided with the team getting mired in a slump, losing 5 of their first 6 games. Gambhir was criticised for not contributing much and generally looking bereft of ideas.

The rot grew deeper as top-order internationals like Colin Munro, Jason Roy, and new talents like Prithvi Shaw were kept out of the side. The two-time IPL-winning skipper, keeping the team interests in mind, decided to relinquish the captaincy. Shreyas Iyer took over the reins from Gambhir and scored a brilliant 40-ball 93 in his first game as captain.

Even though Delhi couldn't qualify from the league phase that season, they played spoilsport to the title aspirations of Mumbai. In the 2019 season, Iyer led the team to the playoffs after a gap of 6 years.

# 3: Daniel Vettori (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Kohli (left) took over Royal Challengers Bangalore captaincy duties from Vettori (right).

For the first three years of the IPL, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) looked like a team of quality Test players. In 2011, they bought quality T20 players like AB de Villiers, Tillakaratne Dilshan, and Daniel Vettori. The team management appointed New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori as the skipper of the team.

RCB qualified for the final that season. In 2012 though, they had an indifferent start to the season. Captain Vettori's form was a worrying factor for the franchise. His economy rate was good but he wasn't able to pick up wickets in the middle overs. On the other hand, Sri Lankan veteran Muttiah Muralitharan was picking up wickets for RCB.

With only 4 overseas players allowed to comprise the playing 11 in the IPL, the Kiwi decided to drop himself for Muralitharan. As a result, Virat Kohli took over the reins of captaincy for the latter half of the 2012 tournament.

The owners were overwhelmed with Vettori placing the team before self. The left-arm spinner was subsequently appointed the coach of the franchise in 2014, a role he would stay in till 2018.

# 4: Kumar Sangakkara (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Kumar Sangakkara

In 2012, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) terminated the Deccan Chargers IPL franchise. But the players of the erstwhile franchise were retained under a new team, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). A new coaching staff under Tom Moody was appointed in 2013. The team management asked Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara to captain the side.

SRH won 5 of their first 7 games that season. But it was their bowlers who were winning matches for the team. Runs weren't coming from the bat of the Hyderabad batsmen. To put the situation into perspective, in their first 12 matches, the new franchise reached a total of 160 only once.

Skipper Sangakkara was going through a barren run. He had scored 120 runs at a strike rate of 88.23 in 9 innings. With a place in the playoffs on the line, the Sri Lankan decided to drop himself from the playing XI. It helped them play 3 overseas all-rounders in Darren Sammy, Thisara Perera, and Cameron White respectively.

White was appointed the new captain, and under his captaincy, the team qualified for the playoffs by winning 3 of their last 4 games.

# 5: Shikhar Dhawan (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Shikhar Dhawan (right) gave up the Sunrisers Hyderabad captaincy to Darren Sammy (left).

Before the 2014 season, Sunrisers Hyderabad decided to retain Shikhar Dhawan and Dale Steyn only. The franchise bought quality players like David Warner, Aaron Finch, KL Rahul, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the auction. They had a strong squad and were expected to do well that season.

Dhawan was made the captain of the team in 2014. The left-hander was coming off a brilliant season in international cricket, having scored a century on Test debut. Dhawan also produced a Man-of-The-Series performance in the Champions Trophy.

However, immediate results were not forthcoming, as the franchise started the season poorly. The batting and bowling departments were not complimenting each other. Dhawan was feeling the burden of captaincy as he couldn't elicit the best from his teammates. His poor form with the bat exacerbated the situation.

Dhawan handed over captaincy duties to Darren Sammy and the move paid immediate dividends. Relieved of the added responsibility, Dhawan recaptured form by scoring his first two half-centuries of the season in the next 2 games. It was however, too little too late, for the season as the franchise failed to reach the play-offs.