5 Australians who turned out to be successful captains in the Indian Premier League

Australians are known to dominate wherever they play. Many of the IPL franchises trusted the capability and experience of the Aussies, and gave them the responsibility of leading their side.

Aussies are known for their attacking mind set, and their ability to read the game. They play attacking cricket, and produce favourable results more often than not. Even the likes of Glenn Maxwell got an opportunity to lead KXIP because of his attacking mind set.

Aussies are never boring as skippers, they usually set aggressive fields, and do not back off from exchanging a word or two with the opponent.

Here are 5 Aussies who turned out to be successful skippers in the IPL:

#5. George Bailey

Bailey led KXIP to the final in 2014

The right-handed middle order batsman from Tasmania captained the Australian side in absence of Michael Clarke. He made his IPL debut playing for the Chennai Super Kings under the captaincy of M.S. Dhoni. Later in his career, he joined the Kings XI Punjab and was assigned as captain in the year 2014.

Bailey doesn't possess a typical Aussie mind set, he doesn't get into on field banters. He is a cool customer, and puts a lot of thinking into his field sets. He is someone who believes in unorthodox field sets, and Punjab needed exactly a man of that sort.

2014 turned out to be a great year for KXIP, they topped the group table with ease and made it to the finals, losing to KKR in a cracker of a contest. This was the first and the only time KXIP reached the finals of the IPL.

Under Bailey, KXIP didn't look the same side as they looked in IPL 2013, they played a very attacking brand of cricket and looked invincible in most parts of the tournament. In 2014, they won 11 out of the 14 games they played, and topped the table with ease.

#4. Steve Smith

Smith almost pulled off a win in the 2017 final

The current Australian skipper started his IPL career playing for the Pune Warriors India as more of a leg spinning all rounder. Later on he played as a proper batsman for few other IPL franchises.

In IPL 2015, Shane Watson was the captain in the initial stages of the tournament, but Smith took over from him in the latter stages of the tournament. He ensured that the Royals reached the Play offs by beating the defending champions KKR in a virtual Quarter Final at Brabourne, Mumbai. They lost to RCB in the eliminator, but overall Smith didn't have a bad start as captain.

After RR was banned for two years, Smith moved to the new franchise RPS and lead the side in the year 2017. He had a terrific season but lost in the finals by just one run. This was surely a tough pill to swallow for Smith and his boys, but overall they had a good season winning 9 out of 14 games in the league stages, and they also had a nod over the Mumbai Indians who dominated the entire season, beating them 3 out of 4 times.

After the return of the Rajasthan Royals this year, he was retained by the side, and will surely captain the side in 2018. Hopefully he'll have a good time working with their newly appointed mentor Shane Warne.

#3. David Warner

Warner's aggression won SRH the title in 2016

The left-handed opening batsman is probably one of the best batsmen in the IPL. Not only is he a sound batsman, he also turned out to be a great captain.

He is a typical Australian captain, who is not shy of any sort of onfield banters or exchange of words on the field.

It is very surprising how his captaincy changed his batting. Now he is someone who is willing to take the responsibility and staying there till the end, and making sure his team has got a formidable total on the board.

He used to be a player to throw his wicket away by playing some needless shots, but now he is someone who chooses the right delivery to hit. He was the most consistent batsman of SRH in IPL 2016.

2016, turned out to be a great year for him, he captained SRH to their first IPL victory. With their inconsistent batting hardly anyone gave them a chance, but Warner had other ideas. Warner and the bowlers performed brilliantly and made sure SRH fans would never forget that night in Bengaluru.

In IPL 2017, he didn't do too badly either, he made sure SRH reaches the Play offs, but unluckily they lost to KKR due to rain. The rain break made the equation right in KKR's favour and the Knights won it with ease.

#2. Adam Gilchrist

Gilchrist led the now-defunct Chargers to victory in 2009

Gilly was one of the most dangerous batsmen in world cricket, he used to win games single-handedly for his side. He was an excellent captain and won a test series in India, in Ponting's absence.

Deccan Chargers had a disastrous start in 2008, they were at the bottom of the group table despite having a star-studded lineup. The 2009 edition of the IPL took place in South Africa and Gilly was appointed as the captain of the side.

He used all his experience and made sure that the Chargers won their first IPL. His aggressive thinking has been the essence of his success as a captain. He won the semi-final for his side against Delhi Daredevils, chasing 153; he smashed the DD bowling attack, and ended up getting 85 of just 35 balls.

His captaincy skills were tested when the Chargers had to defend 143 at the Bull Ring which is a high scoring venue, and he did it quite successfully, becoming the second Australian to win the IPL. Later on he moved to KXIP, but didn't have much success.

#1. Shane Warne

Warne never let the 'underdogs' tag deter RR from performing well

The best leg-spinner in the world is easily the best Aussie skipper of the IPL. He was appointed as the captain of the Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural season of the IPL, Rajasthan had a young side with hardly any big names.

Warne's men turned out to be giant killers. He turned his young team into wolves, and they used to hunt in a pack. He has got the ability to identify talent, and he made sure every player contributes in some way or the other.

He is someone who believes in putting youngsters into tough situations to get the best out of them. He gave opportunity to the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Sohail Tanvir, Yusuf Pathan and many more to make a name for themselves.

They over-powered the star-studded CSK to win the first ever IPL. It was a massive upset as hardly anyone gave them a chance, but Warne never gave up and RR lifted the first ever IPL trophy.

He is not done with RR yet, as he is appointed as the mentor of RR in this year's IPL, and will look to repeat the feat.