IPL: 5 lesser-known captains in the tournament's history

"The captain has to pull together 10 different individuals with contrasting personalities and personality traits and get them all going in the same direction by treating them equally but differently" - Steve Waugh

The captain of a cricket team shoulders more responsibilities than captains of teams in other sports. In the T20 format, where a single bad decision might cost the team an entire game, the role of the captain becomes all the more important. In the IPL, it is even harder since the captain has to manage players from across the world.

43 players have captained sides in the IPL (excluding the 2018 season). In the 10 years of its existence, the IPL has witnessed many prominent skippers like Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni etc. However, there have been some who have flown under the radar and been forgotten.

Let's take a look at 5 lesser-known captains in IPL history.

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#5 Shaun Pollock

Teams Played: Mumbai Indians

Matches (as captain): 4; Wins: 3; Losses: 1; Tie: 0; NR: 0; Win%: 75%

Proteas bowling all-rounder Shaun Pollock started his IPL career representing Mumbai Indians in 2008.The former South African skipper took 11 wickets at an economy rate of 6.54 and also scored 147 runs at a strike rate of 132.43 in 13 IPL matches.

In the first edition of the IPL, Polly captained MI on 4 occasions and emerged with 3 victories. Pollock is the most successful MI captain going by the percentage of wins (75%). He was the first South African player and also the first pace bowler to captain an IPL team.

#4 James Hopes

James Hopes

Teams Played: Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils, Pune Warriors India.

Matches (as captain): 3; Won: 0; Losses: 2; Tie: 0; NR: 1; Win% : 0 %

Aussie all-rounder James 'Catfish' Hopes scored 417 runs at a strike rate of 136.27 and also got 14 wickets in his IPL career (21 matches). While he first turned out for the Kings XI Punjab, he never truly found his feet.

Hopes was the vice-captain of Delhi Daredevils in the 2011 edition of the IPL. He led his side thrice in the absence of regular captain Virender Sehwag but lost all those three matches.

Currently, Hopes is the bowling coach of Delhi Daredevils (IPL 2018).

#3 Ross Taylor

Ross Taylor

Teams Played: Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Daredevils, Pune Warriors India.

Matches (as captain): 1; Won: 1; Losses: 0; Tie: 0; NR: 0; Win% : 100 %

Kiwi top-order batsman Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor became only the 3rd New Zealand player to captain an IPL team when he took charge of his team against CSK (Brendon McCullum captained Kolkata Knight Riders in 2009 and Daniel Vettori captained Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2011).

On April 15, 2013, Ross captained Pune Warriors India to victory against the Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk. He is the only skipper in the history of the IPL to have a 100% win percentage.

#2 Parthiv Patel

Parthiv Patel

Teams Played: Chennai Super Kings, Kochi Tuskers Kerela, Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians.

Matches (as captain): 1; Won: 0; Losses: 1; Tie: 0; NR: 0; Win% : 0 %

Surprise!

Parthiv Patel, who led the Gujarat side to the Ranji Trophy title in 2016-17, became the 3rd Indian wicket-keeper to captain an IPL team (after MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik, excluding Rahul Dravid) when, on 16 May 2011, Kochi Tuskers Kerela announced that he would be their skipper for the rest of IPL season 4. He took over leadership duties of KTK from Mahela Jayawardene and in the only match Parthiv captained, his side lost to CSK by 11 runs.

Parthiv has scored 2322 runs in 119 IPL matches at a decent strike rate of 117.21. Another fascinating fact is that Parthiv has played for 6 different IPL teams which is the joint highest (along with Aaron Finch) for any player in IPL history (excluding 2018).

#1 Dwayne Bravo

Dwayne 'Champion' Bravo

Teams Played: Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Lions.

Matches (as captain): 1; Won: 0; Losses: 1; Tie: 0; NR: 0; Win% : 0 %

Trinidadian all-rounder Dwayne John Bravo is a complete T20 player and a true entertainer. He is an aggressive middle-order batsman who can score runs in no time and also an acrobatic fielder.

Bravo has scored 1262 runs and scalped 122 wickets (5th leading wicket-taker) in 106 IPL matches so far (IPL 2008-17). He is the only foreign player to win the Purple Cap twice (Chennai Super Kings - 2013 & 2015) in the history of the IPL.

Bravo became the first West Indian player to captain an IPL team when he led Mumbai Indians against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2010 (KKR beat MI by 9 wickets at the Eden Gardens stadium) in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar.