The biggest <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/t20/ipl-indian-premier-league/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IPL</a> headline that arrived on the scenes recently was Ravindra Jadeja handing over the CSK captaincy back to MS Dhoni. On Saturday (30th April), the Chennai Super Kings announced that Dhoni is all set to lead the Yellow brigade once again. Under Jadeja&#8217;s captaincy, the team was not performing as per the standards they had set for themselves, as they looked completely out of rhythm.

The pressure of captaincy was reflected in Jadeja&#8217;s game as he looked completely different from the Jadeja whom we know. After plenty of failures, he gave the responsibility to the best in the business and CSK straightaway won the first game convincingly after Dhoni&#8217;s return to captaincy.

Meanwhile, this was not the first time that a captain was changed in the middle of a season. There have been many occasions when the IPL franchises decided to award the responsibility to a different player.

Here are captains who stepped down in the middle of an IPL season

2008: VVS Laxman – Adam Gilchrist

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-638095" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/VVS-Laxman-1.jpg" alt="VVS Laxman" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-638095" class="wp-caption-text">VVS Laxman. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

The inaugural IPL season was a revolution in the cricketing world but it was not so great for the old Hyderabad franchise, the Deccan Chargers. They lost 12 out of 14 games in that season despite having a solid group of players.

They had plenty of stars in their batting lineup like Herschelle Gibbs, Shahid Afridi, and Andrew Symonds. In the maiden IPL season, every franchise was formed around an icon Indian player and one of the greatest VVS Laxman was the icon player for them. Somehow, things did not turn out well for them and they performed poorly.

Shahid Afridi said in an interview that Laxman’s persona did not match T20 cricket. At one time in that season, the management was bound to take a call for their change in captaincy. The flamboyant Australian southpaw Adam Gilchrist was named the skipper of the Chargers in the middle of the season and the team won the IPL title in the following season under his captaincy.

2009: Kevin Pietersen – Anil Kumble

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-638096" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Kevin-Pietersen.jpg" alt="Kevin Pietersen" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-638096" class="wp-caption-text">Kevin Pietersen. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Rahul Dravid was the captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2008. However, the batter decided to step down from captaincy after the completion of the first season itself. RCB bought the big show Kevin Pietersen ahead of the 2009 IPL season for INR 1.55 million and the franchise straightaway named him the captain for the season.

IPL is the toughest cricket tournament all over the world. The challenges and the hustle that captaining a franchise gives an individual are not easy things to play with. RCB lost four of the first five games under the leadership of Pietersen. The team owner of RCB then Vijay Mallya could not keep his patience and he removed Pietersen from the captaincy.

The Indian leg-spinning wizard Anil Kumble was named Pietersen&#8217;s successor. The franchise did exceptionally well under his leadership and they went on to win eight of the next 10 matches and reached the finals. However, they lost to the Deccan Chargers in the final.

2012: Daniel Vettori – Virat Kohli

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-134235" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Daniel-Vettori-1.jpg" alt="Daniel Vettori (Indian Premier League)" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-134235" class="wp-caption-text">Daniel Vettori. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

The Royal Challengers Bangalore start every IPL season as favorites but they are yet to win a title after playing 14 seasons. They have come closer to the title, reaching the final thrice but have failed to lift the trophy. One of those three occasions came in 2011 when the kiwi spinner Daniel Vettori led the side to the finals.

In the following season, RCB won just two games of their first five, and Virat Kohli was named the captain of the franchise in the middle of the season. Kohli was a young rising Indian batter at that time, who was yet to show the world, what he could do. So, making him the captain was a brave decision taken by the management that too in the middle of the season.

The team did partially well under him in the remaining games, finishing at number five on the points table. Kohli was then named the full-time captain of RCB in 2013 and he continued to captain the team for eight more years. His tenure as a captain did not see as many highs as the lows. The breakthrough year for RCB came in 2016 when they reached the IPL final for the third time.

2012: Kumar Sangakkara – Cameron White

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-638069" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Kumar-Sangakkara-Deccan-Chargers-2012.jpg" alt="Kumar Sangakkara" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-638069" class="wp-caption-text">Kumar Sangakkara. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

There was one more change in 2012, as the Deccan Chargers once again changed their captain in between a season. The year 2012 was the last one for the Deccan Chargers in the IPL as the franchise got dissolved after that.

In IPL 2012, Kumar Sangakkara was captaining the franchise and they lost their five games on the trot. Rain abandoned their sixth game and they were yet to win a match after playing six games. Skipper Sangakkara even dropped himself from the playing XI. The franchise announced the 29-year-old Australian all-rounder Cameron White as their captain later.

However, despite changing their skipper, there was no change in their results as they went on to lose five out of their next eight games. That marked the end of the Deccan Chargers franchise, the winners of IPL 2009.

2013: Ricky Ponting – Rohit Sharma

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-638070" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Ricky-Ponting-MI-2013.jpg" alt="Ricky Ponting" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-638070" class="wp-caption-text">Ricky Ponting. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Ricky Ponting started as MI’s captain in the 2013 season but things did not go his way. MI lost four of their first five games of the season and was struggling with their form. Ricky Ponting decided to step down from captaincy and MI named Rohit Sharma as their skipper.

There was a huge turnaround in the tournament after Rohit started to lead the team and MI eventually managed to seal the trophy. That was the last IPL season for Sachin Tendulkar and the team dedicated the win to the legend himself.

Naming Rohit the captain was the beginning of something special as Mumbai went on to build a legacy under the Hitman. MI went on to win four more IPL titles after that and Rohit became the most successful captain in the history of IPL.

2013: Angelo Mathews – Aaron Finch

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-638071" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Angelo-Mathews-PWI-2013.jpg" alt="Angelo Mathews" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-638071" class="wp-caption-text">Angelo Mathews. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Yet another Maharashtra IPL franchise, Pune Warriors India went on to change their captain mid-season in 2013. Pune Warriors India played three IPL seasons but they never had any season worth remembering. The franchise was considered an inferior team as their performers were never that convincing.

In 2013 the team had a pathetic start, winning just a single match in their first five games. Angelo Mathews was captaining the franchise at that moment. After regular failures, Mathews decided to step down and the Pune management named Aaron Finch as their new captain. However, the change in captaincy did not change the results.

Pune Warriors ended up winning just four of their 16 league matches that year as they finished number eight in the nine-team tournament. After that season, the Pune-based franchise got dissolved due to some financial issues stemming from the valuation of the league’s annual franchise fee.

2014: Shikhar Dhawan – Darren Sammy

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-253289" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Shikhar-Dhawan-4.jpg" alt="Shikhar Dhawan" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-253289" class="wp-caption-text">Sunrisers Hyderabad&#8217;s Shikhar Dhawan. (Photo by Surjeet Yadav/IANS)</figcaption>

The southpaw from Delhi, Shikhar Dhawan was named as the captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad for IPL 2014. Dhawan is among the top run-scorers in the history of IPL but when it comes to captaincy, he has not been successful in the role. He has been playing the IPL right from the first season but despite having so much experience, he is still not considered captaincy material.

In IPL 2014, SRH won two games out of their first four, and Dhawan was struggling with the bat. He realized that the workload of captaincy was affecting his batting and he decided to step down. Darren Sammy, who was the skipper of the West Indies limited-overs side back then, was appointed as the new skipper of the team.

Despite changing the captain, the result did not go in the favor of the Hyderabad-based franchise and they could not qualify for the playoffs that season. After the completion of that edition, SRH released Sammy and later found a great leader in the form of David Warner, who took SRH to glory in 2016.

2015: Shane Watson – Steve Smith

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-414137" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Shane-Watson-Rajasthan-Royals.jpg" alt="Shane Watson Rajasthan Royals" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-414137" class="wp-caption-text">Shane Watson Rajasthan Royals. (Photo source: PRAKASH SINGH/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption>

The champions of the inaugural edition of the IPL did not fail to entertain the fans every season. Rajasthan Royals have always been a side that is extremely tough to defeat. They have had some legendary captains like Shane Warne, Rahul Dravid, Graeme Smith, etc., but in a few instances, they had to take tough calls regarding the selection of their skipper.

In 2015, Rajasthan Royals were doing decently well, having won six games of their first 10 in which two got abandoned and one ended in a tie. But Shane Watson, who was leading the side back then, wanted to focus more on his skills, and he decided to resign as RR’s captain.

The RR management finally decided to go with Steven Smith. Smith did well as the captain of the Jaipur-based franchise and took the team to the playoffs. They could not reach the finals but they got a great captain in the form of Smith who served the franchise as a captain for a long time. However, things have changed and Smith is not even a part of IPL 2022.

2016: David Miller – Murali Vijay

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-327524" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/David-Miller-2.jpg" alt="David Miller IPL 2020" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-327524" class="wp-caption-text">David Miller. (Photo: Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS)</figcaption>

Despite playing 14 IPL seasons, Punjab Kings have not found their core group yet as they keep on changing the majority of their players every season. There had been several instances when they have selected the wrong player to lead their side.

The team was not doing well in 2016, and the captain David Miller was also not in good touch. He scored just 76 runs in the first six innings. The management decided to give the responsibility of captaincy on the shoulders of Murali Vijay, who was in good batting form in that season and was looking confident. Therefore, the management decided to go with him.

Once again, the change of captaincy did not affect the results as Punjab finished at the bottom of the table and Vijay’s captaincy career never took off. The Kings XI Punjab changed their name to Punjab Kings but their fortunes have still not changed for them.

2018: Gautam Gambhir – Shreyas Iyer

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-244851" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Gautam-Gambhir-2.jpg" alt="Gautam Gambhir" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-244851" class="wp-caption-text">Gautam Gambhir of Delhi Daredevils. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Gautam Gambhir was KKR’s most successful captain, winning two trophies for them. The solid southpaw decided to end his IPL career with his home franchise Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) before the 2018 IPL mega auction. Gambhir was made the captain of Delhi straightaway after he re-joined the franchise as getting an experienced captain was a blessing for the franchise.

Somehow, Gambhir was not able to get the wins from the start. Delhi won only one game out of their first six and Gambhir stepped down as the captain. The young Indian batter Shreyas Iyer was named the skipper of Delhi in the middle of the season and he did pretty well.

Under Iyer, Delhi won four of the next eight games. They could not qualify for the playoffs but Iyer captained the team for two more seasons. Iyer got injured before IPL 2021 and Rishabh Pant was named as the captain. Iyer went to the IPL 2022 mega auction and KKR bought him and named him as their new skipper.

2019: Ajinkya Rahane – Steve Smith

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-235960" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Ajinkya-Rahane.jpg" alt="Ajinkya Rahane" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-235960" class="wp-caption-text">Ajinkya Rahane of Rajasthan Royals. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Steve Smith was captaining Rajasthan Royals and was doing well but the Sandpaper controversy in 2018 led to a ban on him for one year and he was also removed as Australia’s captain. After that ban, the RR management decided to remove from IPL captaincy as well and named Ajinkya Rahane as their captain. However, captaincy did not suit Rahane and he could never settle as a captain.

In IPL 2018, RR lost six of their first eight matches and Rahane decided to step down as he was not able to turn things around. RR named Steve Smith the captain of the Jaipur-based franchise once again later as he was an experienced captain with the experience of leading Australia.

Even after the change in captaincy, Rajasthan finished at the second-last position in the points table, winning only five of their 14 league matches. Smith captained the Royals for one more season before Sanju Samson was made RR’s captain. Smith went unsold in the IPL 2022 mega auction and he is not a part of the ongoing season of IPL.

2020: Dinesh Karthik – Eoin Morgan

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-508341" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Dinesh-Karthik-1.jpg" alt="Dinesh Karthik" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-508341" class="wp-caption-text">Dinesh Karthik. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)</figcaption>

Dinesh Karthik is one of the most successful wicketkeeper-batters in the history of IPL. He was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders during the 2018 mega auction as KKR was searching for a captain and they decided to go with the experience of Karthik. He captained KKR between 2018 to 2020.

In the middle of IPL 2020, KKR were doing pretty well, having won four of their first seven games but Karthik was not scoring runs. He then decided to step down as the captain and KKR had a World Cup-winning captain in the form of Eoin Morgan in their squad. So, Morgan was the automatic choice to lead the franchise.

KKR’s performance in IPL 2020 was neither too good nor too bad as they finished in the fifth position, winning seven of their 14 league matches. Morgan’s captaincy did make an impact in the following season when KKR reached the finals despite not having a good run in the first half of the tournament, however, they lost to Chennai Super Kings in the final.

2021: David Warner – Kane Williamson

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-508250" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/David-Warner-3.jpg" alt="David Warner" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-508250" class="wp-caption-text">David Warner. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)</figcaption>

David Warner was amazing in the seasons when he played for the Hyderabad-based franchise. He won three orange caps as the captain of SRH and won an IPL trophy for them in 2016 when he scored 848 runs. Warner was a true servant of the Orange Army.

During IPL 2021, SRH was not performing as per the standards, having won only a single game out of their first seven matches. The poor performance of the team resulted in a conflict between Warner and the SRH management, which resulted in making Kane Williamson their captain.

The change in the leadership role did not affect the result as SRH finished the season at the bottom of the table. Warner was seen cheering for SRH from the stands, which showed how much he loved the franchise. He was not retained by SRH before the 2022 IPL mega auction. The pocket-sized dynamo was bought by Delhi Capitals to play the 2022 IPL season.

Ravindra Jadeja recently gave CSK's captaincy back to MS Dhoni. first time that a captain was changed in the middle of a season.

IPL: Captains who stepped down in the middle of a season

Ravindra Jadeja recently gave CSK's captaincy back to MS Dhoni. This was not the first time that a captain was changed in between an IPL