IPL: Top 5 captains who were released by their franchises

In the IPL, it’s witnessed that some franchises did exceptionally in the tournament under the leadership of their astute captains. Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won five titles apiece, under their skippers Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni respectively. 

Similarly, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who won their maiden title in 2012, were led from the front by Gautam Gambhir. In 2016, when Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) won their first and only trophy, David Warner looked stunning in the captaincy and batting roles.

MS Dhoni, who has guided CSK to five title victories, enjoys the immense trust of his franchise owners. After 16 editions of the league, he is the only player the franchise has retained every season. On one side, Dhoni’s leadership skills made him the most trusted confidante of CSK while there have also been some players in the history of the league who couldn’t be at their best as captains and ended up getting dumped. Talking more, let’s know five skippers who got dropped from the teams before auctions due to their poor captaincy performances.

Here are five IPL captains who didn't get retained:

5. Steve Smith (2021)

Steve Smith joined Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 2014 and became a vital part of the team due to his batting in the middle order. In 2015, the franchise appointed the Aussie their captain, and under his guidance, the team played aggressive cricket and ended their journey in the playoffs. 

In 2019, he was seen in RR’s jersey after four years but he failed to make his comeback in the side grand with his ordinary performance. As a batter, he could accumulate only 319 runs in 12 matches at a strike rate of 116.00. Noting Ajinkya Rahane’s ineffective captaincy, the franchise appointed Smith as a captain in the mid-season but he also didn’t succeed in controlling the damage as the team concluded the season in the round-robin stage.

Despite noting his dismal performance, RR retained Smith for the 2020 season. However, the star player looked unimpressive again, scoring only 311 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 131.22. As a captain, he also failed to take Royals to the playoffs as well. Witnessing his back-to-back failures, RR parted ways with him before the 2021 season.