IPL 2018: Rating the new IPL captains 

The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League has already begun and the fans are excited to see some new players in their teams. This year's auction was the biggest auction since 2008 and the teams have seen a huge rejig this year.

All the 8 teams have a number of new players and 5 out of 8 teams have a new captain this year. The captains are often the most important player on the team and there have been instances where the captains have influenced the results of the team.

MS Dhoni has always been a huge influence on his teams. Gautam Gambhir was an inspirational captain for the Kolkata Knight Riders and took his team to two titles. Rohit Sharma's influence was felt in the first season itself as he took his team to the title in his very first year as the captain.

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#5 Ajinkya Rahane

Rahane seems to be struggling with getting his team's batting order right

Ajinkya Rahane has been made the captain of Rajasthan Royals this year as the regular captain Steve Smith has been banned from playing Cricket for a year. Rahane has the previous experience of captaining the Indian team.

Rahane is known as a calm and composed batsman but his captaincy style hasn't been the same. He usually has an organized batting technique and style but his captaincy is anything but organized.

Rahane seems to have got his batting order wrong as he has been using Short to open the innings while demoting Tripathi to number 6. Samson has also been sent below his normal batting position as Rahane seems to be promoting Stokes to bat at number 3 which is something that Stokes hasn't been comfortable with.

Rahane has also refrained from using spinners in the powerplay which has allowed his opposition teams to get off to a flying start. He needs to rectify these mistakes as the captain and bring his characteristic composure to his captaincy.

Rating: 6/10

#4 Gautam Gambhir

Gambhir led Delhi for the first time in 2010

Gautam Gambhir has been the captain of an IPL team since 2010 but he is the new captain for the Delhi Daredevils this year and is hence included in this list. He has been a prolific captain for the Kolkata Knight Riders taking the side to two titles in his stint there.

Gambhir's homecoming though hasn't been up to the expectations. He was expected to take the team to its first title this year but if the first two games are any indication then the team management may end up disappointed.

Gambhir has a great team at his disposal and it is up to him to take this talented side to the title, but he somehow has found it difficult to make these individual stars perform as a team. He has also been shuffling the batting order with Pant being used as a finisher and that is one area which if worked upon could help the team.

The team looked a lot better in the third game but only time would tell if the team can continue to perform in a similar manner. Gambhir has to get the youngsters in his team to perform well which is something he has been unable to do so far.

Rating: 6.5/10

#3 Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh has managed to get the team to punch above their weight

Kolkata Knight Riders are the team which emerged as the weakest after the auctions this year. The team lacked strength in batting, especially in the middle order and were filled with injury prone overseas players. They were probably predicted by many to be the wooden spoon holders this year but what has transpired in the first two games has surprised many.

Kolkata Knight Riders won their first game against the much favored Bengaluru convincingly and were in a better position to win the match against CSK till the last over of the match. Karthik has been pretty impressive as the captain of the team so far in the season.

Karthik has been promoting Narine to open the innings and it has been successful for the team. He has also been using spinners in powerplay overs and the spinners have picked up early wickets. The best thing about his captaincy has been that he has been able to extract the best out of his players.

One mistake which DK has committed in both the matches is choosing Vinay Kumar over Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi. He has also entrusted the experienced bowler with bowling in the death overs and he has failed on both the occasions.

The reason why Dinesh is ahead of Gambhir on the list is that he has a relatively weaker team when compared to an extremely strong unit which Gambhir possesses but still, Dinesh has managed to get the best out of his team while Gambhir has been unable to do so

Rating: 7/10

#2 Ravichandran Ashwin

Ashwin is proving to be an inspirational captain for the Punjab team

Ravichandran Ashwin would have been one of the most disappointed cricketers after the auctions this year as his long-standing partnership with the Chennai Super Kings had ended this year, but as things have panned out in the last 4 months it has become a blessing in disguise for the Chennai spinner.

Ashwin was made the captain of the Punjab team and it has all worked out well for the off-spinner from the auction. He is slowly proving to be an inspirational captain for the Punjab team which hasn't won a single silverware in their last 10 years.

Ashwin has made some interesting and brave moves which have worked out well for the team. Whether it was the idea of playing Mujeeb Ur Rahman ahead of Chris Gayle in the match against Delhi or the idea of playing Gayle in a crucial match against Chennai ahead of Stoinis and Miller, Ashwin has only tasted success.

Ashwin's captaincy was also brilliant in the only game that Punjab lost. He realized that his team hadn't put up a great total and it was therefore important for the team to pick early wickets and he used his strike bowlers in the Powerplay itself. He also built pressure on the world's best batsman Virat Kohli with an attacking field which induced him to play a false shot and made him lose his wicket.

Ashwin has performed brilliantly as the captain of Punjab and he may well turn out to be the best captain that India never had

Rating: 8/10

#1 Kane Williamson

Williamson is the only unbeaten captain in IPL so far

Kane Williamson has a perfect record in IPL this year winning three out of three matches. He has been leading the side from the front contributing to the team's victory in two out of the three matches.

Williamson took over SRH's captaincy when Warner was ruled out of this year's IPL due to the ban. He has more than ably made up for the loss of Warner the captain while Dhawan has made up for the loss of Warner the batsman.

Williamson has done no wrong in this year's IPL but has also not done anything spectacular as the captain of Hyderabad. The Sunrisers Hyderabad is an extremely strong unit and it was always expected to do well.

Williamson has done what the team required and has supported the players at the right time. Though he hasn't done anything out of the box he is among the better performing captains for the simple fact that he has allowed his players to play their game and has extracted the best out of them.

Rating: 9/10