Captains call the shots on a cricket field. They marshal their troops and try to bring the best out of the team. In tournaments like the Indian Premier League (IPL), a role of a skipper is more important than ever as in a fast-paced T20 format, one decision can make all the difference.
Captaining a side in a high-pressure environment is not everyone’s cup of tea and when we talk about the cash-rich league, not many skippers have aced the role. The likes of MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, and David Warner are some of the best leaders the T20 extravaganza has seen. However, there are a few players in the IPL whom fans might not remember as captains.
Here are five IPL captains that many may have forgotten:
5. James Hopes
James Hopes was a proven performer for Australia in the 50-overs format. The 44-year-old featured in 84 games and scored 1326 runs at a strike rate of 93.71. On the bowling front, he bagged 67 scalps at an economy of 4.53. The Queensland-born displayed his all-round prowess in the IPL as well. He smashed 417 runs in 21 games at a strike rate of 136.27 and bagged 14 wickets in the competition.
Interestingly, Hopes also led a franchise in the lucrative T20 tournament. During his stint with Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2011, when skipper Virender Sehwag got ruled out of the last three games of the season, the franchise looked at the former Australian all-rounder to carry out the leadership duties.
The Delhi franchise needed to win all three games to stand a chance to qualify for the playoffs. However, with Hopes at the helm, the Daredevils lost two games and one game got abandoned due to rain. As a result, Delhi were the wooden spoon holders of the season, with just nine points from 14 matches.
4. Karun Nair
Karun Nair had a phenomenal campaign in the ninth edition of the lucrative T20 tournament, when he smashed 357 runs in 14 games for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) at a strike rate of 120.20. Courtesy of the amazing performances, the 30-year-old became an integral member of the Delhi set-up.
The ace batter’s stocks were on a rise and he was also seen as captaincy material. This was evident from the fact that in the 2017 edition when Delhi’s incumbent skipper Zaheer Khan got sidelined for a couple of games due to a hamstring injury, DD entrusted Karun to lead the team. The Jodhpur-born did not have a great start to his leadership stint as Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) thrashed the Daredevils by 10 wickets in the 36th match of the tournament.
But under Karun’s leadership, Delhi bounced back in style and won against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Lions. Zaheer took over the team's reins after recovering from his injury. DD were not able to qualify for the knockout stages and finished the league stage in the sixth position with six wins under their belt.
3. Angelo Mathews
Angelo Mathews has been part of the Sri Lankan Test set-up for over a decade. He has been a rock of the batting line-up and piled on runs for fun. The 35-year-old has featured in 100 Tests and amassed 6953 runs at an average of 45.14. He has been prolific with the bat in the ODIs too and scored 5835 runs in 218 matches.
The veteran batter has also led Sri Lanka across formats for a substantial period of time. Mathews got an opportunity to show his captaincy might in the Indian Premier League as Pune Warriors India appointed the Colombo-born to lead the side in the 2013 season. However, the decision to appoint the elegant batter as the leader of the pack could not bear fruit.
Mathews led PWI in five matches and Pune could only manage to win one of those games. After a poor start to the campaign, the Colombo-born stepped down from captaincy and handed over the reins of the side to Aaron Finch. However, Finch was not able to revive Pune’s campaign, and the franchise ended in the eighth position with four wins in eight games.
2. David Hussey
David Hussey was a giant of a player in the T20 circuit. He featured in 267 games in the shortest format and accumulated 6097 runs at a strike rate of 133.20. The 45-year-old was a useful contributor with the ball too and bagged 68 wickets at an economy of 7.47.
Hussey fared well in the lucrative T20 tournament as well and scored 1322 runs in 64 matches at a strike rate of 122.98. During his stint with Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) from 2011 to 2013, the former Australian cricketer was an important member of the team and was also part of their leadership group.
During the 2012 and 2013 seasons, whenever Punjab’s designated skipper Adam Gilchrist was unavailable, the think tank gave the leadership duties to Hussey. The Perth-born captained KXIP on 12 occasions and did a decent job, leading the franchise to six victories. Hussey made his last IPL appearance in May 2014. He is presently associated with Kolkata Knight Riders as their mentor.
1. Cameron White
Cameron White was a ferocious striker of the cricket ball and performed consistently for Australia in the limited-overs format. In the ODIs, the 39-year-old featured in 91 ODIs and scored 2072 runs at a strike rate of 80.12. Talking about the T20Is, he smashed 984 runs in 47 games at a strike rate of 132.97.
Though White did not live up to the expectations in the IPL, he did not perform badly either. The former Australian cricketer featured in 47 matches and scored 954 runs at a strike rate of 126.36 and was an important member of Deccan Chargers set-up in the 2011 and 2012. Whenever DC skipper Kumar Sangakarra was unavailable, the team management looked at the Victoria-born to fill the skipper's shoes.
In the 2013 season, White created a lot of buzz with his impressive leadership skills. When Sangakarra stepped down from the captaincy position mid-way through the competition, the former Australian cricketer was trusted with the leadership role. He did not disappoint and guided his team to the knockout stages in their debut season. Overall, White captained a franchise 12 times in the lucrative T20 tournament and shepherded his team to victory on seven occasions.
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