The 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League is currently underway, and for the first time in a long time, fans have seen eight teams having an Indian captain in the same season. Due to the addition of two new franchises, some new players got an opportunity to lead an IPL team. Initially, franchises relied on Indian names as captains, but the trend changed gradually and the foreign players also got chances to lead IPL teams.
The likes of David Warner, Adam Gilchrist, George Bailey, and Shane Warne achieved much success as captains in the Indian Premier League. However, one of the disadvantages of having a foreign captain is that he blocks one of the four overseas slots available in the playing XI of an IPL franchise.
Even if there are other talented foreigners available in the squad, they have to warm the benches because the captain always plays. Whenever an overseas captain underperforms, it puts an impact on the entire team combination.
Popular data analyst Gaurav Sundararaman felt that looking at the way the under-par performances of foreign captains hurt a team, all 10 franchises may have an Indian captain going forward.
“It will just be a matter of time before we have 10 Indian captains in the IPL. With Overseas captains, you always run the risk of getting stuck in case the player is not in form. Almost every year we see that with someone,” he tweeted.
It will just be a matter of time before we have 10 Indian captains in the IPL. With Overseas captains you always run the risk of getting stuck in case the player is not in form. Almost every year we see that with someone. #IPL
Advertisement— Gaurav Sundararaman (@gaurav_sundar) May 14, 2022
Only 2 foreign captains among 10 teams in IPL 2022
Eoin Morgan led the Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL 2021 Final last year, but his individual performance was not up to the mark, leading to a huge impact on the team’s batting performance.
Looking at that trend, quite a few teams decided against having an overseas captain in IPL 2022. Faf du Plessis (RCB) and Kane Williamson (SRH) are the only two foreign skippers this season.
