In a surprise move, young Indian opener Shubman Gill was announced as the Gujarat Titans’ new skipper. However, unlike Gill, who got the nod to lead the side before the IPL season even started, many captains didn’t get a chance. So, here are the 5 surprise IPL captains in the league’s 16-year history:
| Captain | Franchise | Replaced |
|---|---|---|
| Shubman Gill | Gujarat Titans | Hardik Pandya |
| Nitish Rana | Kolkata Knight Riders | Shreyas Iyer |
| Ravindra Jadeja | Chennai Super Kings | MS Dhoni |
| Daren Sammy | Sunrisers Hyderabad | Shikhar Dhawan |
| Murali Vijay | Kings XI Punjab* | David Miller |
5 surprise captains in IPL history:
Shubman Gill
Hardik Pandya’s shocking move to leave the Gujarat Titans after two successful seasons forced the franchise’s hand to name Gill as his new successor. While Pandya goes to his old franchise, the Mumbai Indians, the young opener will try to step up and replicate their past season’s results.
Nitish Rana
Nitish Rana was named Kolkata Knight Riders’ skipper for the 2023 edition following Shreyas Iyers’ injury. Rana being named skipper ahead of Andre Russell shocked a few people, but the southpaw was over the moon after being given KKR’s leadership. His first season as skipper wasn’t great, as he managed to win just six of their 14 matches.
Daren Sammy
The former West Indian skipper was suddenly named the captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the middle of the 2014 edition. Sammy took Shikhar Dhawan’s job mid-season after the southpaw managed to win just 4 out of their 10 matches. The 2-time T20 World Cup champ didn’t do much, leading the side in the last 4 matches.
Ravindra Jadeja
After being awarded the captaincy by MS Dhoni ahead of the 2022 season, it felt like Ravindra Jadeja was set up to fail, and fail he did. Up until that point, Jadaja had never captained before in the IPL and hasn’t ever since. The all-rounder led CSK in 8 matches, winning just 2.
Murali Vijay
Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) have struggled in the IPL, having reached the knockout stage just twice. To improve their record, they appointed captain David Miller ahead of the 2016 season. However, after Miller won just 1 out of the 6 matches he captained, he was abruptly removed. His replacement, Murali Vijay, did better than him, winning 3 of the 8 matches but nothing spectacular. Since that season, neither has led a side in an IPL match.
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