It is being constantly fed into our conscience that a captain is only as good as the team at his disposal and if the team members do not perform up to the standards, then the leader of the pack is rendered helpless. This is partly true and partly untrue as well because there have been several instances in the past where a captain has inspired the rest of the players to punch above their weight. Sometimes even with the best of the resources captains have come a cropper. With the current edition of the IPL ending only a few days back, it won’t be irrelevant to focus on the captains who have been found wanting this time around.
Ravindra Jadeja (CSK)
One of the most successful and consistent teams in the IPL decided to bring in a fresh guard in the 15th edition as the time was ripe to find a new successor to an ageing MS Dhoni. Hence, the highly experienced Ravindra Jadeja was chosen as the heir apparent to Dhoni. But the Saurashtra all-rounder was simply not up to the task despite having a mentor like Dhoni besides him. If Chennai’s losing spree was becoming a never-ending affair then the new captain’s downward spiral in all the aspects of the game only made the matter worse. Jadeja failed as a batter, bowler and fielder with alarming regularity and the same almost crushed the morale of the entire team. The spate of losses prompted Jadeja to give up captaincy midway through the tournament and Dhoni minced no word to imply that the Team India all-rounder could have been better prepared. So, CSK is back to square one yet again as they need to find a suitable leader fast to take the legacy of Dhoni forward from the next edition onwards.
Shreyas Iyer (Kolkata Knight Riders)
The SRK-owned KKR also opted for a new player at the helm of affairs this season when they appointed Shreyas Iyer as the new captain of the squad. Despite having prior exposure to captaincy Iyer only flattered to deceive. After finding a few back-to-back successes early on in the current edition, Kolkata’s campaign simply derailed at the business end of the tournament as Iyer looked totally clueless and dishevelled. The Mumbai batter, on his part, effected a lot of changes in the team combos to arrest the slide but to no avail, and his outburst against unnecessary interference from external sources in team selection only exacerbated the issue further. So, it won’t be wrong to say that Iyer needs to come up with some out-of-the-box ideas next season to revive the fortunes of KKR.
Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians)
Just like Chennai another team to endure a horrendous season this time happens to be Mumbai. Under Rohit Sharma, the five-time champions suffered their worst possible start to the IPL campaign this year as they took more than 8 matches to record their first victory. The new Team India all-format captain had also been found wanting on several counts in this edition. Most importantly, his batting failed to provide the required impetus at the start, putting the middle order under immense pressure in the majority of the losses. Also, his awkward tactics to not bid for some good bowlers, in the absence of Jofra Archer, during the auction came back to haunt him big-time this year as their inexperienced bowlers, Basil Thampy and Jaydev Unadkat, turned out to be sitting ducks before some quality batters looking to grab the early initiative. So, Rohit has no option but to get some good bowlers into the outfit to complement the efforts of Bumrah and, significantly, get his Midas touch back with the bat for MI to make a comeback next year.
