New Delhi: The 19th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has ended with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)’s historic back-to-back title wins. Under the leadership of Rajat Patidar, Bengaluru has won the trophy for the second consecutive time and it is certain that Patidar will remain the captain. But as soon as the tournament ended, news of major changes started coming from the camp of other franchises. Many teams are going to make major changes in their leadership before the next edition of IPL 2027. Meanwhile, the biggest news is coming from Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), where star wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant himself has resigned from the captaincy post after poor performance.
Lucknow team remained at the bottom (10th position) in the points table this season. Under the leadership of Pant, the team could win only 4 out of 14 matches. Not only Pant’s captaincy but also his personal performance and the strange changes made in the batting order proved to be a loss-making deal for the team, after which he himself decided to step down from the captaincy.
Apart from Pant, there are three more big teams which are all set to change their captain before the next season:
Mumbai Indians had removed five-time champion captain Rohit Sharma and handed over the command of the team to Hardik Pandya with huge expectations. Hardik had earlier made Gujarat Titans the champion, but his magic was completely ineffective for Mumbai. Last year, after a bad start, the team somehow reached the playoffs, but this season Mumbai became the first team to be eliminated from the tournament. According to insiders, there was a huge lack of coordination between the strategies of the senior players and the coaching staff. It is believed that before IPL 2027, Mumbai Indians can remove Hardik from the captaincy, and in such a situation, Hardik can also leave the franchise.
This season was full of ups and downs for Delhi Capitals. Under the leadership of Akshar Patel, the team remained in the race till the last moments with faint hopes of making the playoffs, but ultimately could not succeed. Delhi won 7 out of 14 matches, but Akshar’s captaincy decisions were heavily criticized. His decision to promote himself higher up the batting order was a flop, while in bowling too he could take only 11 wickets in 13 matches. The Delhi franchise is now looking for a new and aggressive captain for the next season.
After the departure of Shreyas Iyer, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) appointed experienced Ajinkya Rahane as captain, who did not find any buyer initially in the auction. Under the leadership of Rahane, KKR’s graph has continuously declined. Under his captaincy the team stood 8th last year and 7th this year. Rahane, who is 37 years old, scored only 335 runs in 14 matches this season. Considering the poor form and poor captaincy, KKR management is not only considering removing him from the captaincy, but can also release him before the mega auction.
