Rating all captains of IPL 2020 - Week 1

The much-awaited IPL 2020 kick-started with the iconic clash between the defending champs Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings. After the tournament was shifted to the UAE, a lot of talk went into how the skippers and the teams would adapt to the conditions there. The pitches turned out to be quite slow and the grounds bigger than the usual Indian grounds.

Each team in the league has played at least one game. While top teams have found the right combination, some teams are yet to find success in the tournament. These are early days in the tournament where the captains and the coaching staff can work out different strategies and combinations.

In the first week of the IPL 2020, captains took some key decisive decisions during the course of the matches, which eventually proved vital. Surprisingly, some captains have done much better than expected so far in the tournament.

Here are the rating for the captains in the first week of IPL 2020:

8. Virat Kohli (RCB) – 6

Virat Kohli started his IPL career at the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The franchise always backed the young talent and retained him over the years. Finally, the rise of Virat Kohli as a cricketer and eventually the captain of the side made the franchise even more strong.

In the IPL 2020, the RCB skipper has not had the best outing on the field so far. Although the team won their first clash against the SRH defending, they lost the second match against KXIP. Kohli has a huge amount of expectation to perform. However, Kohli and the solid think tank of coaches failed to address the necessary issues with the squad selection.

Surprisingly, the side was able to defend a decent total against SRH. Not best known for death bowling, Kohli was able to manage his bowlers around well. Although there were some leaks in the batting line-up, it did not hurt the team.

Facing the mighty KXIP in the second match, Kohli won the toss and decided to bowl first. Understandably, RCB have had problems bowling at the death. But in reality, the unchanged bowling line-up was actually successful in the last game. RCB could have used that confidence into their advantage but did not. Squad selection was also a concern for the Bangalore side.

It was clear that RCB needed an extra bowler to strengthen the bowling lineup, yet the squad remained unchanged. Dale Steyn lacks the X-factor, and Josh Phillipe occupying the overseas slot did not solve the problems for RCB. Virat failed to captain the side effectively when KXIP batsmen were on a roll. Virat Kohli gets a rating of 6.

7. Dinesh Karthik (Kolkata Knight Riders) – 6.5

Dinesh Karthik, the skipper of KKR, started off the IPL 2020 campaign with a humiliating loss against Mumbai Indians. However, the side managed to restrict SRH to a fairly low total in the second match and found success chasing it down well within the 20th over. We have not seen the best of Karthik’s captaincy skills yet in the tournament.

Having more than adequate talent in the side ranging from young talent to overseas, KKR has not shown best of their capability. Managing the bowlers is an important factor in the game, especially with the likes of S Narine, S Mavi and Pat Cummins. The disappointing sight was to see Karthik use Pat Cummins wrongly in the first game against MI. Cummins was not given the opportunity to exhibit his skills but was asked to immediately control the leak in the bowling attack.

With Eoin Morgan in the side, DK has the advantage of getting inputs from the experienced English captain. The franchise would be glad to see Karthik perform well with the bat as well as command his side towards victory. The tournament is long enough to see the changes and the rectifications made by the captains and the players. He gets a rating of 6.5.

6.David Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad) – 7

David Warner, the skipper of Sunrisers Hyderabad, had led his team into an IPL title in the year 2016. The left-handed opener had made some very good decisions as the captain of the team in the previous IPL. However, in this year’s IPL, SRH have failed to get off to a good start. They lost their first two games against RCB and KKR.

Bowling first in the game against RCB, Warner and his boys failed to break the opening partnership. The bowling areas and the field set up were not upto the mark. David Warner might have gone wrong with the team selection in the first game against RCB. Their batting line up did not respond well to the situation. Failing to chase 163, SRH fell short of 10 runs.

After winning the toss against the KKR, Warner opted to bat first. However, the strategy to get as much as possible on board and to defend failed as the KKR batsmen chased down the target well within the 20 overs. When asked about his decision to bat first, he stated that he felt their strength lied in death bowling and that they were probably short of few runs.

Warner needs to get his team into line before the business end of the tournament arrives. the Australian must find the right combination and a plan to counter the opposition soon. David Warner gets a rating of 7 for his captaincy.

5. MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) – 7.5

MS Dhoni is one of the greatest captains to have ever played the sport. Chennai Super Kings have won the IPL title thrice all under the captaincy of Dhoni. CSK is regarded as one of the best T20 league sides across the world and Dhoni, as the captain of CSK, has seen far too many victories compared to losses. However, CSK have so far has seen two disappointing losses in their IPL 2020 campaign.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have retained a settled core squad over the years and keep doing the same magic year by year. Dhoni, in the tournament opener against the defending champs MI, did mix it up a bit by lowering his batting position. When asked about the change in the batting order, he answered that it was needed in the team point of view. However, the next two matches saw the team lose quite disappointingly. The decisions that Dhoni made during the matches did not give out the best results.

Playing against Rajasthan Royals, saw the good bowling line up of CSK go for too many runs. Dhoni persisted with the two spinners Chawla and Jadeja as the RR batsmen were on fire. The decision to keep the spinners on proved too costly for CSK as RR were able to power through to a huge total.

Another aspect of captaincy was under the spotlight as the former Indian captain decided to bat at a lower batting position. Dhoni is not quite the batsmen he used to be in his early days and he may be forced to bat up the order to rescue his side from drowning losses. MS Dhoni gets a rating of 7.5

4. Steve Smith (Rajasthan Royals) – 8

Steve Smith has been in association with the Rajasthan Royals for a long time now. He has the inside-out knowledge of the local talent as well as the overseas capability in his team. In their game against CSK, Royals found success in restricting them from reaching the huge total they were able to score in the first innings.

The Royals have a very squad with a good balance of Indian talent and overseas stalwarts. Steve Smith made the decision to open the innings with the youngster Jaiswal in the first game. Smith scored a wonderful captains knock of 69 (47). Although the playing XI in the first game looked decent, because of the options and the verity of the cricketers available to them gives them the roam for improvement.

Managing his bowlers superbly picking up consistent wickets Steve and his boys held CSK back. However, since the ground they played being quite small compared to the other grounds in the UAE also saw the RR bowlers go for some runs. Steve Smith gets a rating of 8 for his captaincy.

3. Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) – 8.5

Mumbai Indians are one of the most successful franchises in the history of the IPL. Having won four IPL trophies, MI are also the defending champs of the tournament. Rohit Sharma took over the captaincy long time ago and has proven to be one of the best in the business. MI are currently sitting with 2 points, having lost their first game against the CSK coming back strongly against KKR.

MI in the UAE has not had the best record in the past. However, the recent performance against the KKR showed the extent of their ability. Rohit Sharma, with the quick bowling changes and executing specific plans against the opposition, has been quite successful. Having a well-settled batting line and a great combination of bowlers managed to find a 49-run victory against KKR.

Rohit Sharma and his men were unable to break the match-winning partnership of Ambati Rayudu and Faf du Plessis in the first game. Facing KKR and defending a commendable total, MI laid out a perfect plan to take out the dangerous batsmen of KKR and registered their first win. Pollard was given an opportunity to bowl after two whole years in the IPL since the pitch suited his medium pace and was able to pick a key wicket. Rohit Sharma gets a rating of 8.5 for his captaincy.

2. KL Rahul (Kings XI Punjab) – 9

The fiery young wicketkeeper-batsman, over the years, has taken the world cricket by surprise with his batting ability. This year, with the captaincy skills, he has done a great job too. Captaining a side with very consistent and talented squad might seem easy but the match scenarios have not been very kind to Rahul. KXIP has 2 points, losing their first game by a small margin against DC and secured a huge win against the RCB.

KXIP has a good bowling line-up in this years IPL. The pace and accuracy of Mohammed Shami and Sheldon Cortrell along with the consistency of the young spinners has made things easier for Rahul. However, he has been spot-on with the necessary bowling changes and some bold bowling changes yielding his side breakthrough.

KL Rahul, after the disappointing loss against DC, lead his side with great confidence in the next game against the RCB. He struck a wonderful ton, taking his side over 200 against RCB. He then managed to bag a victory with a huge margin of 97 runs. He gets a rating of 9.

1. Shreyas Iyer (Delhi Capitals) – 9.5

Shreyas Iyer, the Delhi Capitals skipper, has done a tremendous job so far. The side has found themselves on top of the points table after winning their first two games. Their campaign started on a positive note with a nail-biting Super Over finish against Kings XI Punjab. The battle against CSK is always a tough one. Batting first, DC put up a good total and backed it up with a clinical bowling performance to thump Dhoni’s men.

Delhi Capitals have a very strong Indian squad. It has the capability to function with the minimal assistance of the overseas. Having Dhawan, Rahane and Ashwin drafted into the side this year, DC looks like a settled side. Shreyas Iyer, the young Indian cricketer, has the luxury of having three former IPL Captains in the team– Shikhar Dhawan – SRH, Ajinkya Rahane – RR and Ravichandran Ashwin – KXIP.

Iyer has been able to manage his squad pretty well this year. The squad selection, the bowling changes during the course of the game and the important decisions have all worked in favour of DC. The youngster held his nerve in the first game against KXIP even when Mayank Agarwal almost snatched the game away from them. He gets a rating of 9.5.