Over the years in the Indian Premier League (IPL), we’ve seen captains lead their sides to glory not once but more than once. Their legacy with their respective is one to talk about. From MS Dhoni to Rohit Sharma, all these captains have successfully led their sides to IPL titles multiple times. Rohit Sharma is the only captain with five IPL titles under his belt whereas MS Dhoni follows the elite cue with four titles under his belt leading the Chennai Super Kings franchise since 2008.
But as we talk bout the success stories of a few captains, there have also been a few captains who haven’t had great days as the captain of their franchise. Failure has been such a stigma that has resulted in captains quitting their franchise’s captaincy midway through as they weren’t able to deliver those results. In the thirteen years of IPL, we have seen this happen not once but multiple times.
From Shane Watson to Ricky Ponting, all these big names have quit the captaincy of their franchise at some point. Recently during the 2020 IPL edition, Dinesh Karthik quit as Kolkata Knight Riders skipper making way for England’s World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan. Let’s take a look at players who quit as captains midway through the IPL season.
Captains who stepped down in the middle of an IPL season
1. Gautam Gambhir
The ever successful captain of Kolkata Knight Riders who led them to two titles in 2012 and 2014 was released ahead of the 2018 IPL Auctions. Which resulted in Delhi Daredevils bringing back their old son into the franchise as captain. But the comeback wasn’t as sound as his reign with the KKR side as Delhi Daredevils had a poor start to the season losing the majority of the matches in the first leg.
This performance prompted Gautam Gambhir to hand over the captaincy to Shreyas Iyer and as they say, the rest is history as Delhi Capitals then went on to put on a great show in the 2019 season under Shreyas Iyer as they finished third in the season.
2. Shane Watson
The former Australia all-rounder has been one of the very few players who has been playing in the IPL ever since its inception in 2008. The Rajasthan Royals franchise had appointed Shane Watson as its captain but after a brief period.
He led the Royals in 21 matches and managed to win only seven matches. Watson made a surprising call and stepped down as captain. It was his national side companion who then took over as the captain of the franchise in pink.
3. Ricky Ponting
The two time World Cup skipper Ricky Ponting was bought by the Mumbai Indians side in the 2013 season solely for the captaincy of the side. But even though he was such a successful skipper for the Australian national side, he couldn’t replicate the glory days for Mumbai Indians.
As a result, Ponting stepped down as the side’s captain which resulted in Rohit Sharma taking over. In the end, Rohit Sharma did pay those dividends as he went on to lead Mumbai Indians to four successful IPL titles.
4. Sachin Tendulkar
The Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar was elected as Mumbai Indians’ Icon player and captain in 2008 but following to his injury at the start of the season, we saw Harbhajan Singh and Shaun Pollock lead the side in his absence. Push ahead to 2012, a day before the season began Sachin Tendulkar handed over the captaincy duties to Harbhajan Singh as he had already retired from white-ball cricket earlier that year.
Harbhajan Singh had a bank of experience leading the Mumbai Indians in the past as he had led them to the Champions League T20 title in 2013. Ahead of the 2013 season, we witnessed Ricky Ponting replacing Harbhajan Singh as the skipper of Mumbai Indians.
5. Daniel Vettori
The former Black Caps skipper Daniel Vettori was captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2013 season. However, with additional responsibilities on his shoulder, it took a toll on Vettori’s individual performance.
After a couple of matches, he decided to make way for legendary Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan into the playing XI. Eventually, he relinquished his duties which resulted in Virat Kohli taking over as the skipper.
6. Dinesh Karthik
The veteran wicket-keeper batter was appointed as Kolkata Knight Riders captain ahead of IPL 2019. He had an underwhelming campaign as a captain and failed to guide the Kolkata franchise to the playoffs that season
The poor run continued next season as well. Hence, Dinesh Karthik stepped down as Kolkata Knight Riders captain midseason in 2020 which allowed England’s World Cup-winning skipper Eoin Morgan to take over as captain. This came as a surprise to many as KKR weren’t in a bad position at that point in time which resulted in Dinesh Karthik taking this decision.
7. Ravindra Jadeja
Celebrated Chennai Super Kings cricketer Ravindra Jadeja was handed over the reins ahead of the 15th edition of the cash-rich league. With MS Dhoni likely to hang boots after this season, the franchise wanted for a smooth transition of the leadership duties.
However, the celebrated all-rounder failed to cope with the pressure. Under his leadership, the Super Kings managed to win two games and were at the second-last in the points table. Ravindra Jadeja’s own game also took a beating as he was nowhere close to his personal best. As a result, he relinquished the duties as Dhoni took over the charge.