Since the inception of Indian Premier League in 2008, many great Indian and international players have shown their skills as a batsman or bowler. In the previous 10 editions, the top players never had a chance to captain an IPL team.
Captaincy is never an easy job. The captain has to be smart and alert to the situation, also do the field settings and also handle the tough situation when the team loses.
Some legendary players have captained their national side and made sure that they bought glory for their respective countries.
Here we look at the 5 legendary players who have never captained IPL team
- Lasith Malinga
Lasith Malinga, the leading wicket-taker in IPL history with 154 wickets from 110 matches played for Mumbai Indians franchise for 9 years have never got a chance to MI. He led Sri Lanka to World T20 in the 2014 edition held at Bangladesh. Sri Lanka defeated India in the finals.
In the 2011 edition of IPL, Malinga won the Purple cap taking 28 wickets in 16 matches with 5.95 runs per over. With Sachin Tendulkar, Mahela Jayawardene in the squad, Malinga has been appointed as bowling mentor for the 11th edition. The Sri Lankan great could have proven to be top quality captain if given a chance.
- Chris Gayle
The leading run-getter in T20 cricket and explosive hard-hitting batsman Chris Gayle started his IPL carrier with Kolkata Knight Riders in the first 3 seasons. He then went to Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise in 2011 and then showed his class with the bat. Gayle is 7th in leading runs scorer in IPL history with 3626 runs from 101 matches.
He has the fastest century in T20 cricket. In 2011 and 2012 edition, Chris Gayle was the top run-getter and was awarded Orange cap. He could not perform according to expectations last year for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
This season, Chris Gayle was bought by Kings XI Punjab franchise for 2 Crores. If he had captained any IPL team, the fans would have loved him to lead any side.
- AB de Villiers
AB de Villiers another great of the game never captained an IPL side ever. He has led South Africa in One day international and T20I format from 2012-2017. Last year, he stepped down from the captaincy post. He comes at the number in leading run-getter of this prestigious tournament with 3517 runs from 130 matches.
He played for Delhi Daredevils from 2008-2010. From 2011 onwards, the South African great has been playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise. AB de Villiers scored 513 runs from 16 matches in 2015 edition with an average of 46.63. In 2016 edition also, the South African great continued his brilliant form scoring 687 runs from 16 matches with an average of 52.84.
He had never captained an IPL side ever but entertained the crowds with his innovative batting. AB de Villiers would have been a successful captain with his skills and crowd support.
- Jacques Kallis
Jacques Kallis one of the greatest all-rounders in world cricket did not have a chance to captain an IPL side. He scored 2427 runs from 98 matches with 17 half centuries and also taken 65 wickets from the same number of matches.
He started his IPL journey with Royal Challengers Bangalore from 2008-2010. From 2011 to 2014, he represented KKR as a player. Now he is doing the job of a coach of Kolkata Knight Riders side to focus on training young Indian players. Kallis played under the captaincy of Brendon McCullum, Sourav Ganguly and Gambhir but could not captain any IPL franchise.
- Michael Hussey
Michael Hussey the Australian great was a part of the most successful IPL team, Chennai Super Kings for 5 years. He played for two franchises in IPL, CSK and then Mumbai Indians. In IPL history, Hussey scored 1977 runs from 59 matches.
Hussey played for CSK from 2008 to 2013 and then 2015. He played for Mumbai Indians in 2014 edition. The Australian great won the Orange Cap scoring in 2013 edition with 733 runs from 16 matches. In the 2018 edition, Hussey returned as the batting coach of CSK side.
Hussey would have been a lovely option as a captain. He played under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in CSK Side. If he would have captained an IPL side, then fans would have seen his captaincy skills.