IPL: When franchises ignored veterans and appointed different leaders!

Cricket is a game of uncertainty and so is its brook- India Premier League (IPL). After a major re-shuffle of the squads and much expensive auction in January, the bigger and grander IPL 2018 awaits its inauguration. With the cricket fanatics all over the globe waiting for the beginning of the upcoming season of IPL, the franchises are still busy in squad selection and skipper appointment. A skipper is the most crucial man on the team because he is the one who paves the way to victory.  Yet a few IPL franchises have appointed a skipper that was normal for the team management but way too shocking for the cricket frenzies.

So, here are a few skipper appointments which shocked the cricket lovers across the country-

Kings XI Punjab – R Ashwin over Yuvraj – 2018

After a major squad-shuffle, Kings XI Punjab shocked their fans when they announced their skipper for the eleventh edition of IPL. The co-owned franchise owner Preity Zinta, announced R Ashwin as the new captain of KXIP which was surely heartbreaking for Yuvraj fans. The local boy and ‘Sixer-King’ Yuvi has always enjoyed the local support from Punjab despite playing for other franchises. And now, when this local lad is back in Punjab squad, his fans were eagerly awaiting him to be crowned as skipper.

Rising Pune Supergiants – Steve Smith over MS Dhoni – 2017

If not in any other country, there’s a complete army of Dhoni fans in India that was surely very disappointed when the Rising Pune Supergiants’ owner chose to appoint Steve Smith as captain over Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Although he was not the face of the team, he still used to set fields and give pieces of advice to the skipper Smith in every other game, his fans would say. And, some say that it was the Dhoni’s mind game which helped Supergiants reach the final of IPL 2017. Well, we can’t comment on this whether it was right or wrong but choosing Smith over him was a surely shocking decision.       

Mumbai Indians – Rohit Sharma over Ricky Ponting

‘The Hitman’ as the world acknowledges him is a successful and celebrated skipper of Mumbai Indians. But this celebrated and successful skipper was once a risky bet when MI owners chose him to lead the side over Ricky Ponting. In the year 2013, Rohit Sharma was given the responsibility to skipper MI due to the poor form of then captain Ricky Ponting. However, this turned out to be the biggest gamble and under Rohit’s captaincy, MI won the title for the first time. Since then there has been no looking back for Mumbai as they have won the title three times- 2013, 2015 and 2017.

Well, this thrill doesn’t end here as IPL 2018 is still to begin.