David Warner was replaced by Kane Williamson as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper for IPL 2021.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) franchise became the latest team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) to sack their skipper mid-season and hand it over to another player.
David Warner was replaced by Kane Williamson for the remainder of the IPL 2021 edition. The Australian batsman was even rested and not played in the clash against Rajasthan Royals (RR).
As for Williamson's promotion, it came a day after Warner said he took "full responsibility" for the Sunrisers' loss against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). It was their fifth defeat in six games.
"I take full responsibility. The way that I batted was obviously very slow," Warner told host broadcaster Star Sports after the Sunrisers lost to the Super Kings by seven wickets.
"I was hitting a lot of fielders and [was] very, very frustrated... Look I take full responsibility from a batting point of view. I felt [that with] Manish coming back into the team, the way that he batted was exceptional. And obviously Kane [Williamson] and Kedar [Jadhav] towards the back end there, they put some boundaries away and got us to a respectable total. I felt that we were probably just below par from where we were. But yeah look, at the end of the day, I'll take full responsibility."
With this move, a look at the number of changes made in captaincy mid-season.
1. VVS Laxman and Adam Gilchrist - Deccan Chargers (2008)
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The inaugural season itself saw a change in captaincy mid-edition. VVS Laxman endured a terrible time both as a captain and a player for the Deccan Chargers.
Laxman managed merely 155 runs at an average of 31.00 in six games at an average strike rate of 117.42.
After injury ruled him out, Laxman was replaced by Adam Gilchrist as the captain. The side went on to win the tournament in 2009.
2. 3. Kevin Pietersen and Anil Kumble - Royal Challengers Bangalore (2009)
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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) who had purchased Kevin Pietersen for the whopping US $ 1.55 million had replaced Rahul Dravid as the skipper. However, nothing much changed under his captaincy.
The English star didn't score enough runs and RCB were floundering at the bottom of the table.
Soon after he left midway for national duty, leg-spin great Anil Kumble was appointed skipper. Under Kumble, RCB made a turnaround and even made it to the final. They ended as runners-up, losing the final by only six runs.
3. Kumar Sangakkara and Cameron White - Deccan Chargers (2012)
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In the year 2012, Kumar Sangakkara failed with the bat as the Deccan Chargers skipper scored just 200 runs in 12 games at an 18.18 strike rate.
Sangakkara benched himself and allowed Cameron White to lead and allowed the best foreign players in the XI.
4. Virat Kohli and Daniel Vettori - Royal Challengers Bangalore (2012)
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New Zealand cricketer Daniel Vettori had led RCB to the final in 2011. However, after taking just five wickets in 9 games, he chose to bench himself.
This move got Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan a chance to play and Virat Kohli got to wear the captain's hat.
Kohli to date is leading RCB in the IPL.
5. Ricky Ponting and Rohit Sharma - Mumbai Indians (2013)
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Ricky Ponting was bought by Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2013 and named the skipper. Ponting used to open the batting with Sachin Tendulkar and the pair was termed as 'Pondulkar'.
However, Ponting's poor form wasn't helping the side and he himself decided to get dropped and make way for Rohit Sharma to become the captain.
The decision proved to be a masterstroke as MI had won their maiden IPL title in 2013.
6. Darren Sammy and Shikhar Dhawan - Sunrisers Hyderabad (2014)
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Shikhar Dhawan had scored 215 runs in his first 10 games as Sunrisers Hyderabad captain with 45 being his best score.
A string of losses made the management replace him with Darren Sammy, who had led them to a World T20 title in 2012. SRH didn’t make the playoffs, though.
7. Steve Smith and Shane Watson - Rajasthan Royals (2015)
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Shane Watson who had lead Rajasthan Royals was injured and that made Steve Smith their skipper.
He had led RR to four consecutive wins making them table toppers. However, after Watson's return, they couldn't replicate the consistency.
The franchise handed over the captaincy to a younger Smith. The change worked and RR made it to the playoffs.
8. Murali Vijay and David Miller - Kings XI Punjab (2016)
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Kings XI Punjab had lost five of their six matches and were last on the table in 2016. Skipper David Miller had scored just 76 runs off six games and was soon replaced by Murali Vijay.
Despite the change in captaincy, KXIP continued to remain at the bottom of the table.
9. Shreyas Iyer and Gautam Gambhir - Delhi Daredevils (2018)
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Gautam Gambhir had lead KKR to the title in 2012 & 2014 and then was purchased by Delhi Daredevils and made him skipper.
However, Gambhir managed to score only 85 runs and DD was on the last spot. Gambhir decided to step down and young Shreyas Iyer was made captain.
10. Ajinkya Rahane and Steve Smith - Rajasthan Royals (2019)
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After a disappointing campaign in IPL 2019, Ajinkya Rahane was removed as skipper and Steve Smith took over the reins.
RR had said, "Rajasthan Royals will be led by the Australian batsman Steven Smith for the upcoming matches of the IPL. Ajinkya Rahane did a fantastic job in leading the team to the playoffs last year, however, the franchisee now thinks a fresh approach is needed to bring their 2019 campaign back on track.
"Steve has always been part of the leadership team within RR and Rahane will continue to be a key voice in the side, therefore the Royals see this as a small restructuring process to secure the results required to move up the table".
11. Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik - Kolkata Knight Riders (2020)
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Dinesh Karthik had handed over the KKR captaincy to Eoin Morgan mid-way through the season of IPL. Karthik had decided to step down after the Kolkata franchise won four and lost three.
The veteran wicketkeeper-batsman has had a mixed 2020 campaign. In their IPL lung-opener, he hit a cameo of 22 not out from nine balls to propel KKR to 187/6 as they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 10 runs.
