A captain always has to play the most pivotal role in a team and it’s he who is held responsible for any fault that occurs from the team’s side irrespective of the sport that is being considered. The captain is the one who takes major decisions and can initiate a comeback from the worst of situations with a strong mentality. He/she is the one who fills the other players in the team with new and fresh vigour after a tough defeat, tones up the worst player and turns him into the best.
The so-called “Leadership Qualities” though sounds simple isn’t as easy to demonstrate. One needs to have immense skills in terms of backing others, being selfless, humble, cooperative and a good decision-maker in the nick of time. Only then can he build a team and take it to heights which finally makes the fans call it “invincible”.
There have been several instances of captains changing a course of a game or even an entire tournament throughout their leadership qualities and several other decisions. In spite of all the tough mentality and strong decision making qualities, some players have failed to make any severe impact during their reign as captain. All the responsibilities entrusted to them by the team management ended up in disarray as they failed to execute their plans.
Given below are 5 such players in IPL history till date who couldn’t deliver as a captain for their team and thus went on to have the worst record as a captain of their franchise:-
1. David Miller
The first person to make the list of “Worst IPL captains in history” is a certain David Miller. The left-handed big hitter from South Africa had been in red hot form since he became a part of the King’s XI Punjab.
Seeing his wonderful individual performances, the team management decided to provide him with the captaincy responsibilities for the entire season ahead of the 2016 IPL. Miller was expected to add the captaincy skills to his individual blitz and thereby take Punjab to new heights in the upcoming seasons.
What happened however was a total contrast to the above. The Kings could manage just one win out of their first 6 games under Miller’s captaincy. The major reason that might have caused such downfall must be the overall pressure that might have been created upon Miller due to the extra responsibilities provided to him.
His captaincy duties saw him lose his vintage batting style that was full of freedom and free-flowing strokes. He seemed to be trapped every time he came upon the field. The management lost all their trust which they had rested upon him earlier and replaced him with Murali Vijay.
David Miler (IPL Captaincy Stats):-
Matches – 6 , Won – 1 , Lost 5 , Win % – 16.6 , Period – 2016.
2. Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting’s making the list of “Worst IPL captains” must indeed be a shock to every cricket fan on the globe and rightly so. The man under whom Australia won two 50 overworld cups, and won innumerable matches against the toughest of opponents deserves to be called “THE BEST”! It was under his reign as a captain that Australia became literally “Unbeatable”.
The credit for their sheer dominance in world cricket for such a long period of time must go to a certain Ponting. When Ricky Ponting was handed the captaincy responsibilities of Mumbai Indians in 2013, the management expected him to perform his captaincy duties equally well for the franchise as well. However, what followed was a total mess.
Mumbai didn’t have a properly good start to the season as they lost 3 of the first 6 games that they played and Ponting gave up on his captaincy. The fact that he asked the management to relieve him of the role proves the fact that the entrustment of the extra responsibilities on an ageing Ponting wasn’t really a good idea.
The major reason behind such an unfortunate event of the downfall was sure because of the increasing age of the Australian which had pretty clearly marked the beginning of downfall in his career. He also couldn’t deliver his responsibilities for Australia during that period beginning from 2011. The burden of captaincy at the age of 39 made him look even more finished as a player. The baton was then passed on to a young Rohit Sharma who then went on to win 5 titles for Mumbai.
Ricky Ponting (IPL Captaincy Stats):-
Matches – 6, Won – 3, Lost 3, Win % – 50.0 , Period – 2013.
3. Kumar Sangakkara
Another surprising name in the list is that of Kumar Sangakkara. The Sri Lankan legend who had for the first time been given the captaincy duties back in 2010 went on to lead three different teams in his IPL career. The first team that Sangha got to lead was King’s XI Punjab in the IPL 2010. The season however didn’t go as planned as Sangakkara in his debut season as a captain could win just 3 of the 13 matches he lead his team in and was thus dropped midway of the season.
Next season he took up the leadership responsibilities of his new team, Deccan Chargers, a side that won the IPL in 2009. The results, however, showed no signs of improvement as Sangakkara failed to make any sort of impact in the two-season he lead the chargers for. The team failed to make the playoffs in two consecutive seasons under Sangha. After the Chargers were bought by the sun TV network in 2012, the franchise changed its name to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
That however didn’t bring any change to Sangakkara’s captaincy results as he managed to win less than 50% of the matches he lead his side in before the team management took back the captaincy from him. Thus his captaincy reign in IPL remains to be one that he along with his fans would like to forget.
Kumar Sangakkara (IPL Captaincy Stats):-
Matches – 47, Won – 15, Lost – 30, Win % – 34.04, Tied/NR – 2, Period – 2010-2013.
4. Kevin Pietersen
The English batsman Kevin Pietersen also makes the list due to the bad results which he suffered from during his reign as a captain in his IPL career. Pietersen who had the chance to captain his side for the first time in 2009 while playing for RCB couldn’t make the most of the opportunity as he managed just 2 wins out of the 6 games he lead his side in.
The next captaincy opportunity came in IPL 2014 for the Delhi Daredevils who had newly included him in their squad prior to that season. The decision however was proved to be totally wrong later on as Pietersen had to suffer 9 defeats out of the 11 games that he lead his side in during that season. This marked the end of his captaincy reign in IPL.
Though he went on to win trophies in the upcoming years in the BBL, his captaincy stats in IPL are nowhere close to the calibre of a player of his kind.
Kevin Pietersen (IPL Captaincy stats)
Matches – 17, Won – 4, Lost – 13, Win% – 17.64, Period – 2009-2014.
5. Mahela Jayawardene
Another Sri Lankan player who takes his place on the list is Mahela Jayawardene. The Sri Lankan’s Reign as a captain is distributed into small bits and pieces throughout various seasons for various different teams that he played for.
His first captaincy duties came up in the IPL 2011 when he lead the newly added side to the league, Kochi Kerala Tuskers but the results still didn’t turn out to be impressive as he managed to win just 6 of the 13 matches he captained with the tuskers that season. He then captained Delhi Daredevils in 2012 and 2013.
He didn’t have much success during his time as a captain at Delhi either as he could win only 1/3 of the matches he lead his team in. His side also couldn’t make it to the playoffs in the seasons under his captaincy and thus he was shown his way out of the side. Thus the captaincy responsibilities only added to his troubles as his abilities on the pitch seemed to be pulled down both collectively and individually.
His reign as a captain ended with his failure in Delhi Daredevils as he failed to deliver in his last season as a result of which his side finished at the bottom of the table.
Mahela Jayawardene (IPL Captaincy stats):-
Matches – 30, Won – 10, Lost – 19, Win% – 35, Tied/NR – 1, Period – 2010-2013.
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