With Dinesh Karthik stepping down from his Kolkata Knight Riders captaincy midway through IPL 2020, we observed seven other occasions where IPL teams changed their captains mid-season, for reasons other than injuries or national team calls.
Kumar Sangakkara joins Deccan Chargers (2012)
With Deccan Chargers winning just one game in their first seven, and Sangakkara struggling with the bat, the Sri Lankan decided not to play the eighth game against the Mumbai Indians, handing the captaincy to Australian Cameron White.
The move, however, didn’t change the Chargers’ campaign much, losing six of their next nine games and finishing eighth of nine teams. That season ended up being the Chargers’ last IPL appearance, replaced by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013.
Virat Kohli begins his IPL captaincy at Royal Challengers Bangalore (2012)
Daniel Vettori, who had led the team since 2011, was battling for land at Royal Challengers. So before his eighth game against Chennai Super Kings, Vettori was left out of the XI and handed over the captaincy to Kohli. Under Kohli, the team won four of the next completed eighth games, finishing fifth and losing in the playoff contest in net run rate.
Since then, Kohi has been captain in Royal Challengers, reaching the playoffs once (2015) and finishing runner-up once (2016). Kohli is the only person who has led a team in every IPL season since 2012.
Ricky Ponting makes way for Rohit Sharma (2013)
The most significant change of captaincy in the IPL came in 2013 when its most expensive franchise, still in search of a title, changed captain after six games. Ponting, the two-time ODI World Cup winning captain, was battling with the bat, having scored just 52 runs in six innings, and before game seven he sat on the bench. That meant Rohit received the captain’s armband for the game against the Knight Riders.
Mumbai would win 10 of its next 13 matches to clinch its first IPL title that year. Under Rohit, Mumbai has won three more IPL titles in 2015, 2017 and 2019, and is currently the most successful team in the tournament.
Shikhar Dhawan resigns from the Sunrisers captaincy (2014)
With six losses in ten games and only 215 runs to his name, Dhawan resigned from the Sunrisers captaincy and was replaced by Daren Sammy. Under Sammy, Sunrisers won two of their next four games, but the team was only able to finish sixth. The following season, Sammy was released from the team.
David Warner took over the 2015 IPL captaincy, won a franchise title in 2016 and, barring his brief suspension during the 2018 IPL, the Australian left-handed hitter has since remained the captain of the Sunrisers.
M Vijay replaces David Miller in Kings XI Punjab (2016)
Having finished last in the 2015 IPL under the captaincy of George Bailey, the Kings XI appointed Miller, who had by then produced many winning performances, as captain of the 2016 IPL. But under Miller, the ghosts of 2015 returned again, as they won only one game in their first six games, and before Game 7, the team changed leaders.
Vijay was named captain and, under his command, the team won three of its next seven games, but their fortunes did not change. With a season record of 4-10, the Kings XI finished with the wooden spoon for the second consecutive season.
Gautam Gambhir Retires and a New Era for Delhi Daredevils (2018)
Having won two IPL titles as captain with the Knight Riders and pitched before the 2018 season, Gambhir looked to turn the luck of the Delhi Daredevils in 2018 after his home team bought him and gave him the bracelet. But it was a disastrous start for Gambhir, scoring just 85 runs of 88 balls in his first six games, which coincided with the team losing five of its first six games.
Gambhir then organized a press conference in which he said he would step down as captain and handed over the reins to Shreyas Iyer, who was only 23 years old at the time. Since then, Iyer has remained the captain of Delhi (although they are now called the Capitals) and while they failed to make the playoffs that season, the team made the top four in 2019 and are on track to do the same in 2020.
Ajinkya Rahane leaves, Steven Smith returns (2019)
It was a rough few years for the Rajasthan Royals, who were suspended from the IPL for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, and when they returned in 2018, Smith was unavailable due to his own ban suffered after the Newlands ball handling scandal. That meant Rahane was captain in 2018 and the team stayed with him in 2019 as well. But after six losses in eight games, the Royals management asked Rahane to step down.
Smith took over, but the road to the playoffs was near impossible, and despite three wins in the next five games under his captaincy, the Royals finished seventh. Smith is still the captain of the Royals.
.
