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Mike Hesson, the Director of Cricket for Royal Challengers ("RCB"), recently opened up on the appointment of former South African skipper Faf du Plessis as the skipper of RCB.
Faf was appointed as the captain of the franchise when Virat Kohli announced his decision to step down as captain post IPL 2021. RCB ended up in third place in IPL 2022 under the captaincy of Faf du Plessis and had a successful season.
Speaking to the RCB podcast, Hesson stated:
It is difficult to come into a group that has a former captain. We wanted someone who would get instant respect from the group and also from Virat. A lot of people can get a bit intimidated by the ex-captain being there and is unconfident to make his own decisions."
Faf du Plessis' captaincy came as a welcome change for RCB and he was well respected by his teammates as well as former RCB skipper Virat Kohli.
On that note, here is a look at three 3 former and current captain duos that have worked well in the IPL in the past.
#1 Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad-SRH):
The duo had a successful time at the SRH franchise. Warner led SRH team to a successful season in 2016 when the franchise won the coveted IPL trophy. Warner scored 848 runs at an average of 60.57 that season at an astounding strike rate of 151.43.
Warner assumed the captaincy role for SRH in 2015 and took over the reins from Shikhar Dhawan, who had led the franchise in 16 matches. Once Dhawan took over the captaincy, Dhawan played freely without the burden of leadership and scored 501 runs in IPL 2016.
Their opening cimbination worked wonders for the SRH franchise and laid down the foundation for many famous wins.
#2 Harbhajan Singh and Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians-MI):
Harbhajan Singh captained MI in the 2012 edition of the IPL. Under his captaincy, the team reached the eliminator stage of the tournament.
The 2013 IPL edition saw Ricky Ponting captaining the MI franchise for the first six matches. Thereafter, the captaincy was handed over to Rohit Sharma, who led MI to their first ever IPL trophy in 2013. Harbhajan Singh enjoyed success playing under Sharma and played under his captaincy until IPL 2017.
MI won three trophies in 2013, 2015 and 2017 and the combination of Sharma and Singh contributed immensly to the wins.
#3 Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant:
Shreyas Iyer captained DC in 2019 and 2020 and Pant played under his captaincy. An injury ruled out Iyer from IPL 2021 and Pant was named the skipper of the team for the season.
IPL 2021 was played in two parts due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Iyer was available for the next half of the IPL in UAE. The franchise continued with Pant as the skipper for the remainder of the IPL and Pant captained his former skipper at the DC franchise.
Iyer played eight matches in IPL 2021 and had an impressive average of 35. DC ended at the top of the table during the group stages of IPL 2021 but failed to make it to the finals.
Iyer shifted base to Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2022 and Pant continues to be the captain of DC.
