The Indian Premier League is just a few hours away from starting a 17th edition with the high-voltage clash between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
The captain of the team plays a very important role in the decision-making process and has a huge impact on the match. The captain brings the team together, tries to get the best from all the players, observes the pressure, and tries to make the best decision for team wins, etc. In short, the captain has to play a huge role in cricket matches.
In this particular article, we are going to know about the backup captain who can lead the team in the absence of the regular captain in the 2024 Indian Premier League season. As all the best players and leaders from around the world play in the league, it will be interesting to see who can be the backup captain or vice captain of the particular IPL franchise. Let’s see…
IPL 2024: All team backup captain options
Mumbai Indians
The Mumbai Indians announced Hardik Pandya as their new captain in place of Rohit Sharma for the 2024 Indian Premier League season. Notably, Rohit Sharma won five IPL trophies for the Mumbai Indians.
There are two names in the race for backup captain for the Mumbai Indians franchise. The explosive batter Suryakumar Yadav is one of them. Suryakumar recently became captain of the Indian national T20I team in the absence of the senior players for a few series, and he did well. SKY will be the first-choice option because of the T20 captaincy experience.
Jasprit Bumrah will be the second option as the backup captain for the Mumbai Indians. Bumrah also had captaincy experience with the Indian national test team and also captained the national T20I team on the Ireland tour. It will be interesting to see that the former captain Rohit Sharma can be the backup captain, or the Mumbai Indians will give a chance to a new one as vice captain.
Royal Challengers Bangaluru
Faf du Plessis took over the captaincy in the last two years of the Indian Premier League season. Faf du Plessis did a good job with the bat and also with his leadership qualities for RCB. In the last year’s Indian Premier League season, Faf missed some matches or played with the impact sub option Virat Kohli, leading the team in the regular captain’s absence.
Virat Kohli will be the backup captain option for the Royal Challengers Bangaluru franchise in the IPL 2024 season. Kohli captained RCB in 143 matches, and from those, he won 66 and lost 70 matches. Virat Kohli’s win percentage in the IPL is 46.15.
Another option for the captaincy is overseas player Glenn Maxwell. Maxwell brings the captaincy experience of the Australian T20 league franchise. Maxwell also captained Kings XI Punjab in past IPl seasons. As a captain in IPL 14 matches, Maxi won 7 and lost 7 with a win percentage of 50.
Chennai Super Kings
Just a few hours ago, the Chennai Super Kings announced Ruturaj Gaikwad as their new captain for the 2024 Indian Premier League season. Ruturaj will take charge of CSK in the season opener against the Royal Challengers Bangaluru in Chennai. Ruturaj does not have any captaincy experience in the IPL, but he led India in Asian games that were played in a T20 format, and India won the gold medal in that. As per the long-term planning, the CSK think tank made this decision.
For the Chennai Super Kings, the former regular captain and five-time IPL trophy winner, MS Dhoni, can be the backup option if needed. Dhoni captained in 226 IPL matches, and from those, 133 won and 91 lost, with a win percentage of 58.84. In the past, Chennai Super Kings tried Ravindra Jadeja as a captain, but it didn’t bring good results for them. Jadeja captained CSK in eight matches, and he lost six matches with only two wins.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Shreyas Iyer is back with the Kolkata Knight Riders after missing the last Indian Premier League season due to injury. KKR named Shreyas Iyer as a captain for the 2024 IPL. In the absence of Iyer in the 2023 season, Nitish Rana captained KKR, and he will be the first contender for the backup captain or vice captain position.
Nitish Rana, in his leadership role in 2023, captained KKR in 14 matches, and with a win percentage of 42.85, KKR won 6 matches and lost 8. Rana also has the experience of captaining a team at the domestic level, and that gives her an advantage in the backup captain role.
KKR also has an option in terms of overseas captains, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell.
Rajasthan Royals
Sanju Samson did well as a captain for the Rajasthan Royals franchise and he will lead RR in the 2024 Indian Premier League. Sanju Samson captained RR in 45 games and won 22 matches and lost 23 matches with a win percentage of 48.88. In the 2020 season RR came so close to winning the title under Samson captaincy.
The backup captain option for Rajasthan Royals is Jos Buttler. Buttler named as a white bole captain for the England and he won the T20 World Cup for his country in the Australia. Buttler will be the straightforward choice for the backup captain or vice captain role.
Rajasthan Royals also have an option in terms of Indian contingent Ravichandran Ashwin. Ashwin came with lot’s of experience and also captained Kings XI Punjab franchise in the past. Ashwin as a captain won 12 matches and lost 16 matches from 28 games. Ashwin has a winning percentage of 42.85 in the Indian Premier League.
Delhi Capitals
Delhi Capitals before the start of the new Indian Premier League season announced Rishabh Pant back in terms of leadership role. Notably, Rishabh Pant stayed away from cricket due to car accidents for a long period of time. In his absence, David Warner captained Delhi Capitals in the last IPL season. Warner with experience of a various T20 franchise and also a IPL winning captain with Sunrisers Hyderabad team, will be the first option as a backup captain for Delhi Capitals. David Warner captaincy record in IPL is 40 wins and 41 lost from 83 matches and have a win percentage of 48.19.
Axar Patel is also an option for Delhi think tank for a leadership role. Axar Patel was named as a vice captain in last year’s IPL season for the DC. Axar Patel captained Gujarat domestic side in the Indian domestic tournament. Australian captain for upcoming T20 World Cup Mitchell Marsh is also an option for Delhi Capitals.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Sunrisers Hyderabad named 2023 ODI World Cup-winning captain Pat Cummins as the team’s leader for the upcoming season. SRH brought Cummins from the auction before the 2024 IPL season. The options for the backup captain or vice captain roles for the Sunrisers Hyderabad are Aiden Markam and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Aiden Markam has an outstanding record as the captain of the Sunrisers side in a South African T20 league. As a captain, Aiden Markam won the South African T20 league 2 times back to back for the Sunrisers franchise. Markram also captained SRH in the 2023 IPL season. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was also a backup option; Bhuvi captained SRH in the absence of a regular captain in the past. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, as a captain, lost six and won two matches, with a win percentage of 25.00 from eight matches.
Punjab Kings
Punjab Kings in last year’s IPL led by Shikhar Dhawan, and he will also lead the franchise in the upcoming days. Last year, Shikhar won 6 matches and lost 8 matches from 14 matches, completing the season at No. 8 in the points table.
Sam Curren in the past led the Punjab franchise in the Indian Premier League, and he will be a contender for the backup captain or vice captain position. Curren captained 3 matches in the IPL and won 2 and lost 1 match. Notably, Curren played as a captain in the England 100 tournament and did well there.
In the recent captain meet before the IPL 2024 start, Jitesh Sharma represented the Punjab Kings. Jitesh Sharma will be an option as a backup captain or vice captain for the Punjab Kings. Notably, Jitesh Sharma has no IPL captaincy experience.
Gujarat Titans
Gujarat qualified for the finals in both of their seasons under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya. After Hardik joined the Mumbai Indians, the Gujarat Titans named Shubman Gill as the new captain of the franchise.
For the Gujarat Titans, in Hardik’s absence, Rashid Khan has captained in the past, and he will be the option as a backup captain for the 2024 IPL season. Rashid Khan has experience playing in various franchises and leading T20 franchises. He is also the captain of an Afghanistan national T20 team. With Rashid Khan, another option for the Gujarat Titans is Kane Williamson. Williamson is a well-known and experienced captain who also led Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. As a captain in the IPL, Williamson’s record is 22 wins and 23 losses from 46 matches, for a win percentage of 47.82. Williamson, without a captaincy role, always plays a leadership role by giving his input to the captain and team members.
Lucknow SuperGiants
KL Rahul returns from the injury, and he will be the captain for the Lucknow Super Giants in this year’s IPL. LSG named Krunal Pandya as a vice captain last year, and he led the Lucknow Super Giants in the absence of KL Rahul. But before the start of this year’s IPL season, the Lucknow franchise named Nicholas Pooran as a vice captain for the 2024 Indian Premier League.
Nicholas Pooran came with the experience of captaining various franchises around the world and also the captaincy experience of leading the West Indies national team. Lucknow Super Giant will try to break a playoff hurdle as they lost in both IPL seasons in the playoffs.
