IPL captains who dropped themselves
However in the history of IPL, there have been captains of different teams who have dropped themselves from the team for the better. Cricwizz looks at few such captains who dropped themselves.
1) Kumar Sangakkara (Deccan Chargers): After an ordinary run in IPL 2012, Kumar Sangakkara ‘dropped’ himself as the captain of the now defunct Deccan Chargers. Australian Cameron White stepped in place of Sangakkara. This move did not yield the desired results as Deccan Chargers could never get going in the tournament and most probably the uncertainty in their leadership had a bearing on their performance.
2) Ricky Ponting (Mumbai Indians): Ricky Ponting came into the Indian Premier League with a lot of hype and aura. He was appointed captain of the franchise and much was expected of the former Aussie great. Ponting opened the batting with Indian maestro Sachin Tendulkar but was not very successful. Mumbai Indians were struggling in the tournament and Ponting’s own form was a big worry. Hence, he stepped aside and Rohit Sharma took charge of the team midway through the tournament. He was in the background and was a critical part of the think tank. This move worked wonders and Rohit led Mumbai to their maiden IPL title.
3) Shikhar Dhawan (Sunrisers Hyderabad): Shikhar Dhawan led Sunrisers Hyderabad punched above their weight in IPL 2013, when they finished fourth. The appointment of Dhawan was considered a good move by the management. However in the following year, Dhawan failed to inspire his team to repeat their performance and this also had a bearing on his own personal form. Hence, he was relieved of captaincy duties and West Indian Darren Sammy was appointed the man in-charge.
4) Adam Gilchrist (KingsXI Punjab): The wicket-keeper batsman was instrumental in the Deccan Chargers victory in IPL 2009. However, his captaincy with Kings Xi Punjab was yielding far from ideal results. His lackluster form impeded the surge of his team and he had to drop himself. Fellow Australian David Hussey took over captaincy. Gilchrist maintained that that this decision was based purely to muster team balance and to acknowledge the batting resource that was warming the benches. However, under David Hussey as well, the team failed to win many matches. It was only in 2014 under the captaincy of another Australian George Bailey that the team showed their true colors when Virender Sehwag, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller and George Bailey himself formed the core of the team and led the team to the finals.
5) Daniel Vettori (Royal Challengers Bangalore): Arguably the finest left-arm spinner to have played the game, Vettori has strangled opposition batsmen on many occasions, and thus his mediocre performance with the RCB was very surprising and tough for the team. To make matters worse, Muttiah Muralitharan was on the bench in place of Vettori and hence calls grew louder to include the Sri Lankan wizard in the squad. Vettori eventually took the tough call and benched himself and handed over the reins to a young Virat Kohli. Since Kohli has handled the reigns of the team in 2013, there has been a major improvement in the team’s performance with the team registering a win percentage of 52.83.
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