IPL: 4 players who were shockingly handed over the captaincy 

Captains have a big role to play in T20 International cricket, but even bigger in the IPL. Since the composition of the squads in the IPL are heterogeneous with players coming from different countries, it is up to the captain to make them gel well with each other.

Hence, teams usually don't mind spending a big amount at the auction investing in a good captain. It is believed that all the captains who have won the title have been shrewd tacticians with great cricketing brains.

However, some franchises got their math wrong on ocassions and made bizarre choices of captains. Some of them paid off, while some didn't. Here is a look at 4 players who were shockingly appointed captains in the IPL.

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#4 Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan's appointment as captain of Delhi Daredevils shocked everyone

The Delhi Daredevils tried to end their long hunt for a good captain by putting Zaheer Khan at the helm of the affairs but to no avail. Zaheer who had already retired from international cricket was made the captain of the Delhi franchise at the age of 38.

The move raised many eyebrows as instead of investing in a young skipper, making a 38-year-old who had a maximum of 2 years of cricket left in him was an interesting choice. Throughout his stint as captain, Zaheer was in and out of the side, leading them in 23 games and winning only 10 out of them.

Cricketers who don't have age on their side are usually not favourites to lead as every franchise is looking to build a team keeping in mind long-term plans.

#3 Aaron Finch

A young Aaron Finch could not make the difference for the Pune Warriors

The 2013 season was an eventful one for the now-defunct Pune Warriors India franchise. The team made quite a few interesting calls that year, one of them was making a relatively inexperienced Aaron Finch captain.

Initially, Michael Clarke was chosen to lead the PWI before an injury forced him to miss the season. Thereafter, Angelo Mathews was appointed as the captain of the Pune Warriors India. After results did not go their way, the Pune franchise found the need to give the leadership role to someone else and surprisingly deemed Aaron Finch to be the man for the job.

Finch who had just made his ODI debut, was still finding his feet in international cricket and did not have much experience of leading a team at a big stage. Considering this, it was a surprising choice made by the Pune franchise. No wonder Finch did not achieve much success as he won only 2 out of 10 games.

#2 Parthiv Patel

Parthiv Patel has led his side in a lone game

The pocket-dynamo wicket-keeper was once appointed the captain of the Kochi Tuskers Kerala in absence of regular skipper Mahela Jayawardene. The call was shocking, keeping in mind Kochi had other experienced campaigners like Brendon McCullum and Brad Hodge to turn to.

Parthiv Patel led his team in a one-off game against the Chennai Super Kings which turned out to be in a losing cause. He could not turn the tables for the Kochi Tuskers who were having a dismal season. After that, Parthiv has never assumed the captaincy role in the IPL.

He has played for 6 different IPL franchises. However, his best time came for the Mumbai Indians where he won 2 IPL titles.

#1 Rohit Sharma

Mumbai Indians struck gold after handing over the captaincy to Rohit Sharma

It may sound absurd in today's times, but if you turn the clock back to 2013, you will realize that a young and naive Rohit Sharma was an astounding choice when it came to captaincy. However, the move turned out to be a masterstroke and it yielded great dividends for the Mumbai Indians.

In 2013, Ricky Ponting was originally appointed the skipper of the MI franchise. However, after a string of low scores, Ponting opted out of the playing XI halfway through the season and Mumbai Indians decided to take a chance with Rohit Sharma.

Rohit led from the front brilliantly taking his side to No.2 position on the points table and went on to eventually win the title for Mumbai Indians. He has emulated this feat two more times and is one of the most successful IPL captains today with an almost 60 percent winning record as a captain.