5 Indian players who have captained an IPL team but not the national side

#3: Ravichandran Ashwin

Kings XI Punjab finished sixth in both the 2018 and 2019 IPL seasons under Ashwin's captaincy.

Much like Dinesh Karthik, Ravichandran Ashwin too was picked ahead of the 2018 IPL to captain Kings XI Punjab. However, the decision didn't bear fruit as the IPL team finished sixth in that season of the competition.

Ashwin’s performance dipped considerably as he scalped just ten wickets at an economy rate of 8.09 that season while he experimented a lot of variations, including bowling leg spin. He fared well in the next IPL season, taking 15 wickets, but his side again finished sixth.

Overall, Ashwin has captained the Punjab side 28 times and has a win rate of 42.85%.

#4: Zaheer Khan

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Zaheer Khan captained the Delhi Daredevils in the 2016 and 2017 IPL editions.

The fans didn’t know whether to celebrate or worry when the Delhi Daredevils appointed Zaheer Khan as their captain ahead of the 2016 edition of the IPL.

The franchise finished sixth in both the 2016 and 2017 editions of the competition as an ageing Zaheer Khan led from the front but, unlike old times, couldn’t let the ball do the talking.

He picked up a mere 20 wickets in the two seasons at the helm, garnering a win percentage of 43.47.

#5: Shreyas Iyer

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IPL Qualifier - Chennai v Delhi

Captaincy has always been an issue for the Delhi franchise. Shreyas Iyer was suddenly pushed to the captaincy role when then captain Gautam Gambhir suddenly quit in the middle of the IPL 2018 season owing to poor results and his own underwhelming form.

Even though the side finished last in the IPL table that season, the only positive was that the 23-year-old Iyer scored an impressive 411 runs at an average of 37.66.

The tables drastically turned for the better in the next IPL season after a change in the IPL franchise's management.

Shreyas Iyer once again led from the front as Delhi Capitals made the IPL playoffs for the first time in six seasons. In the process, he finished as the ninth-highest run-getter that season, scoring 498 runs.

Iyer has won 13 of 24 games as an IPL captain, boasting a win ratio of 56.25%. In fact, he is the only player in this list who still has the prospect of captaining India in the years to come.