Every player and the team looked up to their leader in order to draw some motivation and inspiration to perform well. The captain of the any team has the responsibility of setting the standards right and inspire his teammates – to bring the best out of them.
Especially in a sport like a cricket, where the captain’s decision making is of immense importance which further sees the skipper has to buy all the responsibility for the outcome of the match in one way or another.
The rise of Twenty20 cricket has seen a lot of improvisation; be it bowling, batting or fielding. The shortest format of the game has increased the pace of the game. All the eleven players of the team, try and make an impact on the game.
A basic trend in the Indian Premier League (IPL), is that most number of the times, captains in the league has been a batsman.
Majorly for most of the captains the added responsibility of captaincy has not affected their personal performances and have made a major impact on the result of their team.
Let’s have a look at the players who have scored most runs as captain –
- Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar won the orange cap award in 2010. Image Courtesy: Twitter
Five years, after he played his last IPL match for Mumbai Indians, it is difficult to keep Sachin Tendulkar’s name away from the list of most number of runs scorers as a captain.
Veteran batsman Tendulkar led the Mumbai based franchise from the first season in 2008 till his last season in 2013.
However, he was unable to win any title as a captain. He still managed to score runs in bulk, in the later part of his career.
Sachin played 51 matches as a captain in the league and managed to score 1723 runs at an average of 40.07.
- Adam Gilchrist
Adam Gilchrist also has an IPL wicket to his name. Image Courtesy: Twitter
The former swashbuckling Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist, was one of the most successful batsmen in the IPL.
Gilchrist won the title with Deccan Chargers as a captain in the second season of the league.
Gilchrist played for two franchises in the league i.e. Deccan Chargers and Kings XI Punjab and led both of them.
The southpaw played 80 matches as captain and scored 2069 runs at an average of 27.22.
- Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli has had a prolific time while playing for RCB. Credit: RCB Twitter Page
Virat Kohli is certainly the greatest limited-overs batsman of the current era.
Kohli has a terrific record at the international stage and similarly has an amazing record in the IPL.
Having played for the RCB throughout his IPL career he has managed to score 2779 runs in 72 matches as a captain.
The Indian captain also holds the record of scoring the most number of runs in a single season with 973 runs in the 2016 season.
- Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir will play for Delhi Daredevils again. (Photo: IPL)
Gautam Gambhir is one of the most successful captains in the domestic T20 league, as he has won two trophies with the Kolkata-based franchise.
The left-handed opening batsman Gambhir first played for his home town franchise and Delhi Daredevils and led them in the 2010 season. He was then bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2011 and he made them two time winners.
Gambhir has played 107 matches as captain and has scored 2,935 runs at an average of 30.57.
- MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni will lead CSK in the 2018 season. Image Courtesy: BCCI
Mahendra Sindh Dhoni is one of the most successful captains in the IPL history, as he has led the Chennai Super Kings past the playoff stages in all the seasons they have been a part of the IPL.
With CSK been suspended for two years, Dhoni was then bought by the Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS).
In addition, he led them in the 2016 season but failed miserably as the team finished 7th in the league.
However, Dhoni has not led the added burden of being the captain of the league disturb his batting. He has scored 3,271 runs in 143 matches at an average of 39.40.
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