IPL 2018: Scrutinizing the captains

Now that every team has played a game each in the IPL 2018, this is a good time to see how their respective captains went about their business in the opening fixtures.

While a single match is not enough to decide the course of the teams through this long tournament, it will be interesting to use this and compare it against future results.

Some captains like MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir have been doing this for a long time, and are well versed in the nuances of the game, but, this IPL has also thrown into our midst some new captains like Kane Williamson and Ravichandran Ashwin.

Here's a look at how the different captains fared in their respective opening fixtures:

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#1 Ravichandran Ashwin

Ashwin's handling of his spinners was an interesting take

Ravichandran Ashwin, separated from his beloved Chennai franchise, is the captain of Kings XI Punjab, who won their first game against Delhi Daredevils.

While historically, most captains tend to be batsmen rather than bowlers (probably because this lets them focus on the field without worrying about their own bowling), Ashwin was chosen to lead the side over the more experienced Yuvraj Singh.

Being a spinner, Ashwin's bowling selection rotated around his spinning department, with the pacers providing support, rather than the other way around. The three spinners in his side - Ashwin himself, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Axar Patel - bowled 11 overs and scalped 4 wickets with an economy of 8.14.

His field setting was also on point, being an experienced bowler himself, but his team selection in the future will depend a lot on if Yuvraj gets into some form.

At the current form, he is a huge liability for the team, as his innings of 12 from 22 showed. With Manoj Tiwary raring to go from the bench, Ashwin might have a huge decision to make soon.

#2 Kane Williamson

Kane Williamson shone both as batsman and captain

Called in to captain the side owing to the unfortunate absence of David Warner, Kane Williamson showed tremendous potential in his side's opening night domination of a hapless Rajasthan side.

First with a brilliant run-out, and then a sharp catch to dismiss the dangerous Ben Stokes, Williamson followed it up with a calm 36 not out with the bat. But his captaincy was even more laudable.

Blessed with possibly the best bowling line-up in the tournament, he marshaled his troops well, changing the bowlers at the right times, and holding on to the important bowlers for the death. It isn't really that hard when you have Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan on your beck and call.

Williamson may not be as aggressive as the man he has replaced but, he was the same if not better tactical guile as Warner, and will play an important role if the Sunrisers Hyderabad are to reach the qualifiers.

#3 Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik made some questionable decisions despite the victory

Dinesh Karthik had a delightful opener, both as captain and batsman, but, his decisions regarding the bowling were largely questionable.

Andre Russell failed to bowl the full quota of his overs, despite giving away only 10 runs in his two overs. It was lucky that Nitish Rana managed to pick up two wickets as otherwise, KKR would have conceded a lot more.

Kolkata's batting is their main strength with the right mixture of explosive batsmen and rotaters with their Captain as its anchor. Karthik's form with the bat will play a huge role in his form as a captain.

#4 MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni enjoyed a successful return to CSK

MS Dhoni did manage to get a win on CSK's comeback to the IPL, albeit an unconvincing one. Thanks to Dwayne Bravo's superhuman innings, CSK managed to pull off an absolute heist but, left a lot to be desired, especially with the selection.

With Mark Wood disappointing and Faf Du Plessis returning, Chennai will look to accommodate the South African to stabilize the batting line-up, after their previous collapse.

Chennai have a foreign replacement fast bowler in the form of Lungi Ngidi, or they could give Shardul Thakur an opening.

The spin department could see a lot of shaking up, with Ravindra Jadeja being given only one over and Karn Sharma waiting to take over in case either 'Jaddu' or 'Bhajji' gets the boot.

#5 Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma's side was shocked by individual brilliance from Bravo

Rohit Sharma was denied a victory by the previously mentioned Bravo innings, but his own form is worrying. Also, worrying for him is what to do with Mustafizur Rahman. The Bangladeshi pacer thrives on tracks that assist a decent bit of bowling and on a track like the Wankhede, he is just easy pickings for the batsmen.

The arrival of Pat Cummins, will be a welcome sign, and with the young Markhande showing much promise, the bowling should be enough for Mumbai to threaten any opposition who come against them.

#6 Gautam Gambhir

Gambhir played a sublime knock for his team

Unlike Rohit, Gautam Gambhir has no worries about his form. After a scintillating half-century, it was unfortunate that he had to end up on the losing side thanks to a KL Rahul's quick-fire 50 that more than set up the victory for his team.

Delhi was without the services of Maxwell in the game, and his addition will add a much-needed firepower to the middle order. But this would imply that Dan Christian will have to be dropped and his economical bowling will be missed.

The other option is to drop Colin Munro and open the innings with Naman Ojha, which would give more balance to the team in terms of batting.

#7 Virat Kohli

Kohli's plan to go in with 5 specialist bowlers backfired

Virat Kohli's dreams of winning a title with RCB suffered an early blow, after their defeat in the opener. Virat's form with the bat was as rusty as his captaincy, as Bengaluru went into the fixture with 5 specialist bowlers for some unfathomable reason.

In a format like T20s, where even your best bowlers can get thrashed around, it was an unsound decision and the Royal Challengers suffered. Also appalling was the decision to bowl spin against Narine when he has clearly exhibited a weakness to the moving ball from pacers.

#8 Ajinkya Rahane

Rahane experienced a miserable start to the tournament

Ajinkya Rahane, however, had the worst start to the tournament. His abominable form from South Africa carried over with a run-a-ball 13 with the bat, but his biggest mistake was his drop off Dhawan - when the southpaw was yet to start his account.

While it is unfair to pin the match on an individual, it was a costly error indeed. His bowling changes were also mostly unimaginative, which was matched only by his field placement. Williamson and Dhawan repeatedly found spaces to exploit and, were rarely troubled by the bowlers.

Rajasthan does have a good team, but that middle order looks highly vulnerable and the other teams will be looking to exploit it. Only if Jofra Archer gets fit soon, can RR heave a sigh of relief.