The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise captaincy is a very fickle thing. Franchises choose captains based on their pedigree and record, while some are chosen for emotional reasons and hunches. Many of these captains have gone on to do great things for their franchises, like MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma, winning five IPL titles each for CSK and MI, respectively.
On the other side, there have been a few captains who failed to bring the desired results to the franchises and, as a result, had to vacate their spot as leader of the team. Or they were removed from captaincy as owners sought new and fresh ideas in young captains. Here are a few captains who were sacked or vacated their spots mid-season.
Here are 5 IPL captains who were sacked mid-season:
5. Shikhar Dhawan (SRH)
Shikhar Dhawan was captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise in IPL 2014. However, the SRH franchise managed only 4 wins in the first 10 games with Dhawan as captain. Dhawan’s batting also suffered during his time as SRH captain, leading the franchise to replace him as leader. The SRH management replaced Dhawan with West Indies’ Daren Sammy as captain. Sammy had been West Indies Test captain and led the West Indies to the 2014 T20 World Cup as well. SRH managed to win two more matches, finishing with 6 wins in 14 games.
4. David Warner (SRH)
David Warner’s name was synonymous with Sunrisers Hyderabad, having taken them to the IPL 2016 title under his captaincy. SRH did well under him as a team, but things soured in IPL 2021, when SRH failed to win matches in a row and were eliminated early in the tournament. SRH management and David Warner seemingly had some disagreements, and Warner was replaced as captain by Kane Williamson mid-season. He was also dropped from the playing XI and didn’t even travel with the rest of the team. Warner has since revealed that SRH have blocked him on social media after releasing him after the 2021 IPL.
3. Gautam Gambhir (DC)
Gautam Gambhir had returned to Delhi Capitals in IPL 2018 as captain, as he wanted to complete his IPL career with his home franchise. Having won two IPL titles with the Kolkata Knight Riders, Gambhir was expected to turn around the fortunes of the Delhi side. However, nothing of that happened, and even his own personal form perished. This led to Gambhir stepping down as DC captain mid-tournament, handing the reins to a young Shreyas Iyer. Gambhir then retired from the IPL after the 2018 tournament.
2. Dinesh Karthik (KKR)
After the departure of Gautam Gambhir, KKR named Dinesh Karthik as their new captain. KKR played in the IPL playoffs in 2018 but finished fifth in the IPL 2019 edition. A similar trend continued for KKR as they failed to do well in the IPL when it was played in India in 2020. However, when the tournament was shifted to Dubai due to the COVID pandemic, Dinesh Karthik had resigned as captain, with Eoin Morgan taking over. Morgan tried his best that season but was then able to turn the fortunes of KKR around in IPL 2021 and took them to the final, losing to CSK in Dubai.
1. Ricky Ponting (MI)
Ricky Ponting had retired from international cricket and returned to the IPL fold in 2013, having played in the inaugural edition in 2008 for KKR. MI was looking for a new captain, with Sachin Tendulkar having stepped down after the 2012 edition. MI bought Ricky Ponting and named him captain of the side for IPL 2013. While Mi won the games, Ricky Ponting failed to perform as a batter, opening the innings with Sachin Tendulkar. He voluntarily resigned as MI captain, and Rohit Sharma was given the onus of leading the side, and he made history by taking MI to their maiden IPL title in 2013.
