5 Indian stars whose performance improved after becoming their IPL team's captain

3. Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli became the Royal Challengers Bangalore's full-time captain in IPL 2013. Kohli has been RCB's vice-captain since 2011, and he led the team on a few occasions before replacing Daniel Vettori as skipper.

Ahead of the 2013 season, Kohli's highest aggregate in one IPL tournament was 557. He broke that record in his first season as RCB's full-time skipper, scoring 634 runs at an average of 45.29.

Two seasons later, Virat broke the record for the most runs scored by a single batsman in one IPL season. He amassed 973 runs in 16 innings, slamming four centuries to take RCB to the final.

In the 124 innings he has played as a captain in IPL, Virat Kohli's average has been 43.88. Before leading the side, his average was 26.96. Kohli has been magnificent with the willow ever since he became RCB skipper.

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2. Murali Vijay

Murali Vijay was a match-winner for the Chennai Super Kings during the first few seasons. He opened the innings for the team and established himself as a 'big-match player' with his top-quality knocks in high-stakes matches.

While the Tamil Nadu opener never got an opportunity to lead his home franchise, the Punjab Kings entrusted him with leadership responsibilities in 2016. David Miller could not manage the squad well in the first half of the season. As a result, Murali Vijay replaced him as the captain.

Vijay had scored only one half-ton in six outings during IPL 2016 before taking over the reins. After he became the skipper, Vijay recorded four fifties in eight innings. Although his team's results did not change much, Vijay returned to form in the latter phase of IPL 2016.

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1. Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly captained the Kolkata Knight Riders in the inaugural IPL season. However, the team management picked Brendon McCullum as their skipper for the tournament in 2009.

Since KKR's fortunes did not change much in the second season, Ganguly was back as the captain in 2010. The left-handed batsman led his side from the front by aggregating 493 runs in 14 matches. In IPL 2009, Ganguly could score only 189 runs at a strike rate of 91.30.

But he upped his game in 2010 by registering four half-centuries. No other KKR batter could touch the 300-run landmark in the third edition of IPL. While the Knight Riders did not make it to the semifinals, Ganguly had his best IPL season at the age of 37.