Handing over reigns – Instances in IPL of mid-season changes in captaincy

Every edition of the Indian Premier League since its start in 2008 has had one event that defines the entire tournament that year or remains embedded in the memories of the viewers and the aficionados of the league for years. There are abrupt changes, which make or break a campaign and in some cases, become the talking point for that year. This is what makes the IPL a thrilling tournament, where we get our share of everything.

One such change has been mid-season captaincy changes. There have been multiple instances where teams, mid-way through the season, have decided to swap captains, in the hope to turn things around for their team. These changes in some cases have worked wonders for the teams, while in a few other cases have made things worse than what they were before the change. Here we have a look at the times when teams decided that changing captains, in the middle of their campaign was the right thing to do for the team.

9. Deccan Chargers, 2008 – VVS Laxman to Adam Gilchrist

The 2008 season of the Indian Premier League started out for the now-defunct Deccan Chargers, with the Indian stalwart VVS Laxman starting as the team’s leader. Things were kind of turning out fine, when just 6 games into the tournament, VVS Laxman sustained an injury.

This caused him to step down from the leadership role. And, for his replacement, the team’s wicket-keeper, and vice-captain of the Australian team, Adam Gilchrist was brought in. Gilchrist took note of things quickly and in the very next season, in 2009, led the team to the title.

8. Deccan Chargers, 2012 – Kumar Sangakkara to Cameron White

After Gilchrist left Deccan Chargers for Kings XI Punjab, the Sri Lankan great, Kumar Sangakkara was roped in by the franchise and was assigned the duty to lead the team. But, to his and the team’s dismay, he was not able to handle the responsibility of leading the team and scoring runs in the shortest format of the sport, that well.

This forced the Deccan Chargers management to relieve him and appoint the able Australian all-rounder, Cameron White to lead the team. This decision let Sangakkara work on his batting while giving occasional inputs from behind the wickets, while the team was being led by someone else.

7. Mumbai Indians, 2013 – Ricky Ponting to Rohit Sharma

The thing that had happened in the Deccan Chargers camp, a year ago, also unfolded in the Mumbai Indians team in 2013. After being brought into the side to open the batting for the team alongside Sachin Tendulkar, and lead the team in 2013, the Australian ace batsman Ricky Ponting, was also not able to handle the roles given to him well.

Ricky Ponting stepped down as @mipaltan in the midseason of 2013. Rohit Sharma took over. 4 trophies in 7 seasons. @ImRo45 as IPL Captain ? >>>>>>>>>#MumbaiIndians #RohitSharma #MI pic.twitter.com/FHtemF5SAr

— Shubhammm? (@ShhhBum) October 17, 2020

His form with the bat plummeted to the ground, and the team decided to relieve him of the captaincy duties and hand it over the Mumbaikar, Rohit Sharma. Sharma led the team to the top that year, and there hasn’t been anything wrong that has happened thereafter. He is, at the moment, the most decorated captain in the IPL, with 4 trophies under his belt.

6. Sunrisers Hyderabad, 2014 – Shikhar Dhawan to Darren Sammy

Having had a great run in the Champions Trophy in 2013 and a great season for SRH too, the same year, the team management found Shikhar Dhawan to be the go-to man in order to handle the leadership duties of the team. Shikhar found himself leading the team in 2014.

But it was not too long before the flaws in Dhawan’s leadership surfaced and the team lost a series of games in a row. The team management of the Sunrisers was quick to react to the situation and made Darren Sammy the captain of the team.

5. Rajasthan Royals, 2015 – Shane Watson to Steve Smith

In the year 2015, the captaincy of the Rajasthan Royals was handed to the Australian all-rounder Shane Watson. By that time, Shane Watson had established himself in the league and was a veteran Royals player. But, tragedy struck the RR camp, when he got injured and had to sit out for a few matches. Another Aussie, Steve Smith was given the duty in the time Watson recovered, and Smith was quick to grab the chance.

He led RR to multiple wins, and when Watson was not able to replicate Smith’s numbers upon return, it was regarded that it was in the best interest of the team to let Smith lead the team. And, Smith did not let anyone down, as under his leadership RR reached the playoffs.

4. Kings XI Punjab, 2016 – Murali Vijay to David Miller

The 2016 season was not turning out well for the Kings XI Punjab, as the team was pegged at the bottom of the table, and their captain at the time, Murali Vijay was not able to do well either with the bat or lead the team proficiently on the field. Vijay, in the 6 games he had played in, had just 76 runs to his name.

JUST IN – David Miller appointed captain of @lionsdenkxip! #IPL

— CricWizz (@CricWizz) February 9, 2016

So, in a bid to make things better for team Punjab, Vijay was replaced with the explosive South African batsman, David Miller as the captain of the team. But, things didn’t go well for Punjab even then, as the team finished the season at the bottom of the points table.

3. Delhi Daredevils, 2018 – Gautam Gambhir to Shreyas Iyer

In what turned out to be his last season of the Indian Premier League Gautam Gambhir, found himself in trouble, while playing for his hometown based franchise. Having worked wonders with Kolkata Knight Riders, leading them to two successful campaigns in 2012 and 2014, he was given the responsibility to lead the Delhi team.

The player who once used to lead the team by example, scoring runs for fun and staying in contention for the Orange Cap, was not able to score any more than 85 runs. It was due to this, he knew it was time to move on and hand over the reins to someone else. He stepped down as captain and Shreyas Iyer was given the responsibility to lead the team. After that season, Iyer has managed to churn out some decent results for the Delhi Capitals.

2. Rajasthan Royals, 2019 – Ajinkya Rahane to Steve Smith

Ajinkya Rahane, by 2019, was a Rajasthan Royals veteran and was leading the team too. But, things didn’t go well at all for the team, as they were pegged at the bottom of the points table. It was at this time that the Rajasthan Royals management decided that it was time to hand over the captaincy to someone else.

It was then that Steve Smith, who had previously served as the captain of the team, was called in to fill in, after Rahane was axed from the role. But, Smith too wasn’t able to bring along a big change for the team, as they were not able to reach the playoffs in spite of his best efforts. In the 2020 season too, Smith has been charged with leading Rajasthan.

1. Kolkata Knight Riders, 2020 – Dinesh Karthik to Eoin Morgan

Morgan and DK have begun the rebuilding process.

Need a partnership now. ?#KKRHaiTaiyaar #Dream11IPL #KKRvRCB

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) October 21, 2020

After the legendary Gautam Gambhir left the team for joining Delhi Capitals in the 2018 season, Dinesh Karthik was handed over the captaincy of the Kolkata team. In that season, Karthik did well and followed that up with an equally satisfactory run the following season. But, his performances were no match to that of Gautam Gambhir’s.

The team management clung on to him, until the 7^th match of the 2020 season, but owing to his inability to score runs and lead the team by example, Dinesh Karthik decided that he should no longer lead the team. He stepped down, and Eoin Morgan, the World Cup-winning captain from England came in to replace him.