Picking an alternate captain for each IPL 2025 team ft. Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli

IPL 2025 will kick off on March 22 with a clash between three-time finalists Royal Challengers Bengaluru and defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders. The upcoming 18th edition of the league was preceded by a mega auction.

While teams like Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, SunRisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings, and Gujarat Titans retained their captains, the other franchises have given the reins of their team to new players. Injuries and slow over rate ban often force teams to appoint an interim skipper in IPL.

In this listicle now, we will look at the probable alternate captain for each team in IPL 2025 if the skipper is unavailable due to any reason.

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#1 RCB - Virat Kohli

Many fans expected Royal Challengers Bengaluru to name Virat Kohli as their captain for IPL 2025. However, the franchise announced Rajat Patidar as the new skipper.

Patidar will lead RCB for the first time this season. Like the previous IPL cycle, if the RCB skipper is unavailable, Kohli may step up and captain the team.

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#2 MI - Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav is the captain of India's T20I team. Rohit Sharma is the captain of India's ODI and Test team. However, they will play under Hardik Pandya's captaincy for Mumbai Indians in IPL. Playing as specialist batters will give Sharma and Yadav freedom in the batting department for MI.

However, if Pandya is unavailable, the MI team management may look at Yadav or Sharma to lead the team. Both players have a decent amount of captaincy experience.

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#3 CSK - MS Dhoni

Chennai Super Kings team management has made a conscious effort to ensure that the captaincy of their franchise is not easily awarded to any player. The fact that CSK have had only four skippers in 18 years proves the same.

Ruturaj Gaikwad will captain CSK in IPL 2025. However, if the star batter is unavailable, wicketkeeper MS Dhoni should take the charge of the franchise.

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#4 GT - Rashid Khan

Gujarat Titans had officially named Rashid Khan as their vice-captain in the previous IPL cycle from 2022 to 2024. Khan even captained the team multiple times when Hardik Pandya was unavailable.

Considering that Khan has been Afghanistan's captain in the international arena, the GT team management will likely prefer him as their deputy skipper again. GT will play under Shubman Gill's captaincy in IPL 2025.

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#5 KKR's vice-captain in IPL 2025 - Venkatesh Iyer

Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders have officially named Venkatesh Iyer as their vice-captain for the upcoming season. Iyer received a massive ₹23.75 crore deal from KKR at the mega auction.

Quite a few members of the cricket universe felt that KKR would name Iyer as their new skipper. However, the team management preferred veteran player Ajinkya Rahane over Iyer.

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#6 DC's vice-captain in IPL 2025 - Faf du Plessis

Delhi Capitals were the last franchise to announce their captain in IPL 2025. They declared Axar Patel as the captain on March 13, and on March 17, DC named Faf du Plessis as their deputy skipper.

Du Plessis was Royal Challengers Bengaluru's captain during the previous IPL cycle. Under his leadership, RCB made it to the playoffs in 2022 and 2024.

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#7 LSG - Nicholas Pooran

West Indies' hard-hitting wicketkeeper batter Nicholas Pooran has captained the Men in Maroon at the global stage. He also stepped up as Lucknow Super Giants' captain when KL Rahul was unavailable last season.

With Pooran receiving a mega deal worth ₹21 crore from LSG ahead of the mega auction, the Lucknow-based franchise will likely consider him as a deputy for Rishabh Pant in IPL 2025.

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#8 PBKS - Glenn Maxwell

Punjab Kings shelled out an enormous ₹26.75 crore to sign Shreyas Iyer at the mega auction. Iyer guided the Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL championship last year.

While PBKS will hope that Iyer remains available for all the matches, in case the star Indian player misses out on a match or two, Glenn Maxwell can be the alternate skipper. Maxwell has worked as PBKS' captain in the past.

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#9 RR - Nitish Rana

Rajasthan Royals have continued to show faith in wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson as their captain. Samson has been RR's skipper in the IPL since the 2021 season.

If Samson misses out on a game or two this season, RR can consider appointing Nitish Rana as the alternate captain. Rana has captained Kolkata Knight Riders in the past. Plus, he has also led teams at the domestic level.

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#10 SRH - Heinrich Klaasen

Pat Cummins is the only overseas skipper in IPL 2025. Sunrisers Hyderabad retained Cummins for ₹18 crore before the auction, and he will continue to lead the Orange Army this season.

If Cummins decides to skip a match or two to keep himself fresh, wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen can lead SRH. Klaasen has captained South Africa in T20Is before. That experience can help him a lot in the IPL.