FEATURES
Follow Us(Six games for Kings XI Punjab in 2016)
The left-handed South African batter has been playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for 12 years but is not someone who has ever shown interest in captaincy.
The middle-order batter was appointed as Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) skipper in 2016 and led in six games before being dropped from the role. Punjab lost five of their six games under Miller, and the franchise then decided to hand over the captaincy to Murali Vijay.
Miller scored 76 runs in those six games at an average of 15.2 and a strike rate of 128.8 and has never captained in the IPL since then.
(One game for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2021)
It was SRH’s last game of IPL 2021. They were already knocked out. Kane Williamson and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were injured, which allowed Manish Pandey to make his captaincy debut against Mumbai Indians at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
The Men in Orange conceded 235/9 in the first innings and went on to lose the game by 42 runs. Pandey, however, had a good game with the bat. The right-hander scored 69* off 41 deliveries, studded with seven fours and two sixes.
(Three games for Delhi Capitals in 2017)
When Zaheer Khan was injured, the Karnataka batter led DC in three matches. Delhi won two of those games, with Nair playing an important cameo in one of them.
Chasing 185 against SRH, Nair opened the innings and smashed 39 off 20 deliveries. The Capitals went on to win the game by seven wickets. Nair hasn’t played an IPL game since May 2022.
(One game for Delhi Capitals in 2024)
The spin-bowling all-rounder got to captain Delhi Capitals last season when Rishabh Pant was banned for a slow over-rate offence. It was a crucial game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, with qualification on the line.
Axar didn’t pick a single wicket and conceded 24 runs in his three overs, with RCB posting a total of 187. The left-handed batter did slam 57 off 39 in the second innings, but it wasn’t enough, as Delhi lost the match by 47 runs.
(Five games for now-defunct Pune Warriors in 2013)
The all-rounder has captained Sri Lanka in all three formats, so seeing his name on this list shouldn’t be very surprising. However, the problem has always been his fitness. Pune made him the captain once Michael Clarke was ruled out of the 2013 season due to a back injury.
Mathews led in five games, but the Warriors lost four of them. He had to miss the game against Chennai Super Kings because Sri Lankan players were not allowed to play in Chennai, and then he struggled to get back into the team because of his poor form.
Mathews scored just 52 runs in those five matches at a strike rate of 98.1. He did come back for the last five games but, by then, had already resigned from the captaincy. It was Aaron Finch who led Pune in the last 10 encounters.
(One game for now-defunct Pune Warriors in 2013)
The Warriors used three captains during the 2013 edition. Mathews led in the first five games, while Finch captained in the last 10. But there was one game in between against CSK in Chennai, which Pune won by 24 runs, and it came under the leadership of Taylor.
Despite the win, the former New Zealand batter had to hand over the captaincy to Finch because of his terrible form with the bat. Taylor got 63 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 82.9. Pune only won four of their 16 games that season and one of them came under Taylor.
(Three games for Delhi Daredevils in 2011)
Delhi lost seven of their first 11 games which put them in a position where they had to win all the remaining last four encounters for a chance to make it to the playoffs. And they had to do it without their skipper Virender Sehwag who was ruled out due to a shoulder injury.
Surprisingly, Hopes was given the captaincy ahead of David Warner and Irfan Pathan. The decision didn’t work in Delhi’s favour, as they lost two games, and one was washed out. The Daredevils eventually finished at the bottom of the table, and Hopes never featured in the IPL thereafter.
(One game for now-defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala in 2011)
When Mahela Jayawardene missed a game against CSK, Parthiv was given the captaincy ahead of the likes of Brendon McCullum and Brad Hodge. The left-hander scored 6 off 7, and Kochi went on to lose the game by 11 runs. That’s the only time Parthiv has led a team in the IPL.
If you’ve not downloaded the Cricket.com app yet, you’re missing out — big time. Play Fantasy on Cricket.com NOW! Download the App here.
