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The ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season has entered the business end of the competition, and five of the 10 teams are still in the fight for the remaining three spots in the playoffs race. While Gujarat Titans (GT) have qualified for the playoffs, Punjab Kings (PBKS), Mumbai Indians (MI), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are the three teams who have been eliminated from the playoffs race.
Given the teams that are in the race for a playoff spot, it is worth noting that all these sides barring one (Royal Challengers Bangalore) have Indian captains leading them. Today, we look at an analysis of the ten captains, how they have led their sides and their personal performances as well:
Hardik Pandya (Gujarat Titans)
The skipper of the only team that has qualified for this season's playoffs, Hardik Pandya has led his side incredibly well this season. They have a brilliant 10 wins from 13 games this season, and are sitting pretty on top of the points table with an assured top-two finish in their debut IPL season.
Pandya has 351 runs in 12 matches this season, including a personal best IPL score of 87 not out against Rajasthan Royals (RR), including three half-centuries this season. Although he has not bowled as much as he would like to this time around, he has managed to pick up four wickets at an impressive economy rate of 7.26.
Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals)
Sanju Samson has been a revelation as the Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper. His first season as captain was the IPL 2021 campaign but ended in disaster when RR finished second to last. But this time around, Samson has led his team with aplomb. Currently second on the points table, his captaincy skills have made RR title contenders.
Although the wicketkeeper-batter has not been at his best with the bat, Samson has still managed to score 359 runs, averaging a little less than 30 runs per match this season. However, his strike rate of 153.42 still makes him a dangerous batter to face and it will be interesting to see whether he can lead RR to their second trophy after the inaugural IPL season in 2008 when RR won the title under the leadership of the late legend Shane Warne.
KL Rahul (Lucknow Super Giants)
The prolific opener has experience captaining an IPL side during his time with Punjab Kings (PBKS). Now with new IPL entrants Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), KL Rahul has stepped his personal game up a notch and finds himself second on the points table with 469 runs under his belt, including two centuries.
However, LSG have two of their last three matches, losing ground in the playoff race, although they are third in the points table. With a game left to play (against Kolkata Knight Riders), it will be interesting to see whether Rahul can rid himself of the duck crises -- He has been dismissed for three ducks this season -- and lead LSG to the playoffs and eventually the title.
Rishabh Pant (Delhi Capitals)
The Indian wicketkeeper-batter led his side during the 2021 IPL season for the first time, but it was in the ongoing season that Rishabh Pant has shown his true captaincy skill. The no-ball controversy against RR is an example of Pant's passion as a skipper, albeit the rules he broke during the incident.
However, personally, it has been an underwhelming season for Pant. He has scored just 301 runs this season in 13 matches for the Delhi Capitals (DC) and has not scored a single half-century. If Delhi do not make it to the playoffs and Pant fails to hit a half-century in their final league match against Mumbai Indians, it will be the first season without 50+ runs for the DC skipper. Currently, however, they will be primed for a top-four finish, with 14 points in 12 games and fourth on the points table.
Faf du Plessis (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
The South African veteran has led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by example this season. Hero of the IPL 2021 final against KKR, it will be interesting to see whether RCB's dip in form in their last five matches (three losses) will hurt their playoff chance. But for Faf personally, it has been a whirlwind of a season.
He has scored 399 runs at an average of 33.25 and including three half-centuries. His 96 against LSG equalled his highest score in the IPL (against CSK in IPL 2019). Barring their match against the SRH, when RCB collapsed and were all out for 68 runs, Faf has been really impressive as a batter and a leader.
Shreyas Iyer (Kolkata Knight Riders)
Having led the Capitals to the IPL 2020 final two seasons back, a lot was expected from Shreyas Iyer when he was announced as the skipper of KKR ahead of the ongoing season. And although in the first few matches, his form left much to be desired, KKR looked like the team to beat. But not all has gone to plan for the two-time champions, who struggled to maintain a steady batting line-up and have now slipped from the top of the points table to sixth place.
Personally, Iyer has had a topsy, turvy season as well. Inconsistency has been his issue, with two half-centuries and just two 30+ scores this season. However, his captaincy has never been in doubt and hopefully, in the next season, Iyer can prove himself by leading his team to the playoffs as this season looks done and dusted for KKR.
Mayank Agarwal (Punjab Kings)
Mayank Agarwal has proven to be a better captain this season than he is an opener. Inconsistent performances have plagued Punjab's season, which ended after their loss to Delhi on May 16. He has just 195 runs to his name, and a single 50, but proved himself as a skipper when he decided to promote Jonny Bairstow up the order.
The Englishman repaid the faith put in him with consecutive 50s. But Bairstow failed to fire against DC, in a match that also saw Mayank being dismissed for a duck. Punjab have only five wins in 11 matches this season and are seventh on the points table. There have been good individual batting and bowling performances from Punjab but the team have been able to click as a unit.
Kane Williamson (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
Another dismal season will see SRH finish in the bottom half of the points table for a second straight season. After a slow start, SRH picked up the pace courtesy of some excellent captaincy from Kane Williamson. He has won almost all his tosses and made the right decision, but five straight wins were followed by five straight losses and their last one, against KKR, ended their chances of a top-four finish.
Meanwhile, Williamson has been out of form in a bad way and this is sure to have affected the form of his team. He has scored just 208 runs this season, averaging a miserly 18.91. His only half-century came in a winning cause against GT, where the Kiwi skipper scored 57 runs.
MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings)
The legendary skipper has won five IPL trophies and four of them with CSK. However, this season was one to forget for the captain of the defending champions, who took over the captaincy from Ravindra Jadeja midway through the season. But this had no effect on the performance of the side barring a few exemplary performances with the bat.
Dhoni has been in prime form in most matches and that is positive that the side will take at the end of the season. Moreover, the return to the form of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway will be important for the future of CSK, while their depleted bowling department will be a cause for concern. But having discovered gems like Matheesha Pathirana and Maheesh Theekshana, expect CSK to come back stronger in the next season, with or without their talisman Dhoni.
Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians)
The five-time IPL champions have endured one of their worst seasons in the cash-rich tournament. Rohit has personally been out-of-form and this has seemingly spread to the entire team. Barring individual performances from players like Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav, who has since been ruled out of the tournament after suffering an injury, the side has faltered at every step this season.
They began their campaign with eight straight losses as none of Rohit's combinations seemed to be working. Meanwhile, it has been a season of personal lows for Rohit -- his lowest runs in an IPL season (218) after 12 matches, his lowest average after twelve matches (18.17) and not a single half-century to his name
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