May 30, 2008. Venue: The Wankhede Stadium. Event: First semifinal of the inaugural IPL between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Delhi Daredevils (DD). RR had just finished the warm-ups. Their captain Shane Warne walked towards Yusuf Pathan and without saying a word, looked deep into his eyes, placed a hand on his shoulders and just stood for a minute. Pathan, hypnotized, stared back. Despite playing blistering knocks consistently, Pathan had endured a couple of failures, especially against pace bowling. The Royals had lost the toss on a sticky Wankhede pitch and Daredevils had Glenn McGrath, Mohammad Asif and Farveez Maharoof to exploit conditions. Warne’s silent gesture suggested, “Yusuf, I’m backing you. Smash them.” Pathan went on to carve a 21-ball 45, with four sixes which included an audacious smear off McGrath over mid-wicket.
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One can’t fathom how much that gesture from Warne triggered Pathan, but it showed trust. RR always knew what they wanted when they signed up the sheikh of tweak as captain and coach for essentially a ‘Moneyball’ team.
Warne was a poster boy who put bums on seats. And boy, could he bowl and lead! For an inaugural edition, he was perfect. But as the IPL turns 18, how have franchises evolved in terms of choosing captains? Do they look only for a brand? Or do they eye a leader with pedigree?
Sanjay Bangar, former India allrounder and ex-head coach of Punjab Kings and RCB who has strategized during numerous auctions, says, “If there are proven captaincy candidates, teams devise their auction strategy around getting a captain first. But if captaincy candidates are not available, the plan is to build a team and find a candidate later.”
Previous IPL editions have seen retired greats like Warne, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and Adam Gilchrist excel as leaders. They had limited or no T20I experience. Last year, Shreyas Iyer, despite being away from India’s T20I set up, won the IPL with KKR and commanded a huge price from PBKS this year. What explains that?
Bangar says, “Players in leadership roles are preferred even though they are not part of current T20I teams because of their tactical acumen and rare ability to strategize on the go.”
Former India batter Pravin Amre, ex-batting coach of Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians, concurs with Bangar.
“T20 is the most challenging format for captains since a bad move could result in a bad 10 minutes and a loss. A captain has to be switched on for 120 balls,” he said. “When franchises pick a captain, they look at him as someone who can single-handedly win two games out of 14. Also, a captain in such an intense tournament must have a 24/7 open-door policy for players.”
Both Bangar and Amre stressed that branding around a captain is not important as all IPL teams now make money through revenue sharing. Bangar and Amre’s points are worth noting. Teams like CSK, PBKS, GT, RCB and KKR are all led by players who are not in the present Indian T20I team.
“Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar and Ajinkya Rahane are men who let their performance talk. Gill, of course, is a popular brand, but others are not. Today, pedigree matters more. When picking a captain, we pick someone who is an automatic choice in the playing XI,” says a support staff member of a former championship-winning side.
The choice of Rahane to lead KKR, for example, was an interesting one. He hadn’t led in the IPL since captaining RR in 2019. His face doesn’t jump out of screens during breaks. He last played for India in 2023. The franchise doesn’t expect him to break into a ‘korbo lorbo jeetbo re’ jig with team owner Shah Rukh Khan. How can they?
Rahane celebrated arguably India’s greatest ever overseas Test triumph at the Gabba in Jan 2021 as a captain with just a quiet hug with Rohit Sharma. But between 2019 and 2024, for Mumbai, he was loaded with trophies. He won the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 as captain at the Eden in 2022. He top-scored in the tourney in 2024 when Shreyas led Mumbai to the title, and won the Ranji and Irani double as skipper in 2024.
Another support staff member of a franchise that has contested finals, stresses, “In the auctions, we shortlist players for captaincy options. But you have to alter plans when that player gets sold. Of course, it’s an advantage if your captain is also a star and is playing for India.”
In 2025 though, that doesn’t seem necessary.
Get the latest IPL 2025 updates on Times of India, including match schedules, team squads, and live scores for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Find out how to watch IPL 2025 in Canada and the USA.