Every year, when a team wins, their success is attributed to a team effort where everyone collectively made an effort to see their team through to the pole position. But, one person that gets the most yet the least amount of attention is the captain of the team. No matter how talented a group of players is, the person who makes them a successful team is the captain.

Not only this. He is also the one who has to go up to the broadcasters and journalists and answer the boatload of questions, after every match the team loses. And, in many cases, even taking the blame upon himself. The best of the captains are those, who organize the team, keep every player in check and make sure they are giving their best every day by sending in some amount of constructive criticism after every game.

So, here’s a look at the rankings of the captains of every team, before the start of IPL 2020:

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-340207" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Delhi-players.jpg" alt="Delhi players" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-340207" class="wp-caption-text">Delhi Capitals. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS)</figcaption>

The Indian player, who has had a great time with the national team, but will be tested thoroughly in IPL 2020, is Shreyas Iyer. With the arrival of veterans like Ajinkya Rahane and Ravi Ashwin into the team, his problem of talent management has amplified a lot, and he will have to skim through a lot of names, before deciding whom to leave and whom to keep.

The fact that Shreyas is still young, as compared to the players in his team, taking the call of leaving seasoned campaigners out of the team could be a tough task for him to perform. And, this could also be his key to success in this season. If and only if he is able to say no to the right players at the right point of time, he will be able to get the best out of the talent pool he has at his disposal.

But, if he fails to do and is not able to pick the right combinations, he will not be able to see his team through to the later stages. He will have to adapt to handling a more experienced line-up of players than he has handled so far.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-339187" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/KL-Rahul.jpg" alt="KL Rahul" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-339187" class="wp-caption-text">KL Rahul. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS)</figcaption>

The time that KL Rahul has had with the Indian team, in the last few months would have surely brought a ton of smiles on the faces of the fans and the management of the Kings XI Punjab franchise. Especially due to the fact that following the departure of Ravi Ashwin, it is KL Rahul, who has been assigned to carry out the duties of being the captain of the franchise.

But, this fact would also be worrying for those, who know how little experience does KL Rahul has in this department of the sport. Though he gave a glimpse of his efficiency in performing this duty, during a match against New Zealand, no one has seen him perform the duty of the captain at the highest level, for an entire season of a tournament.

And, going into the 2020 season, the lack of experience that the team has, will be a major factor of worry for KL Rahul. It will be interesting to see how Rahul performs in this role. But, the top brass of the KXIP side would be sweating out of nervousness to see how he performs in this role and how far is he able to take the team.

6. Dinesh Karthik (Kolkata Knight Riders)

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-338683" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Dinesh-Karthik.jpg" alt="Dinesh Karthik" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-338683" class="wp-caption-text">Dinesh Karthik. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

The Kolkata Knight Riders have had a journey on the same tangent as that of Dinesh Karthik’s career. A promising start, followed by years of poor performances and finally a period when everything that was done, turned out to be perfect and with almost no complaints.

Ever since Gautam Gambhir left the leadership of the team, things have not been the same for the team that had won the championship twice in three years not that long ago. Last season, KKR finished on the 5th position and things that went wrong were somewhat because of the lack of clarity in the leadership of the team.

Karthik, for the 2020 season will have a lot of things to look into if he wants to get the team even close to the trophy. Replicating what Gautam did with the team can be a tough task for anyone, but since Karthik is there on that role, it is his duty to live up to the expectations. And, make the fans rejoice the victories as frequently as they used to do in the yesteryears.

5. Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-337721" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Virat-Kohli.jpg" alt="Virat Kohli" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-337721" class="wp-caption-text">Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Virat Kohli, the name is enough for giving the bowlers bowling to him goosebumps and send a chill down their spines. But, one thing that Kohli has not been able to do well is the captaincy. Somehow, since the year he has taken over as the captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, things have not been exactly great for them and they have not been able to win a title.

The team has the best players from across the globe. But, together as a squad, things have not gone exactly the way that their leader, Virat Kohli would have wanted to and hence the criticism that he receives for not being able to perform his abilities as the captain of the team. He has been doing really well in leading the Indian team to victories in series after series. But, hasn’t been able to replicate the same performances for his franchise.

Going into this season, considering the fact that it is the year of the T20 World Cup he will look to win the cup for the team at all costs. But, the thing that he will have to take care of will be the talent pool of players that he has at his disposal for this season, keeping a close eye on everyone who can do well in a given situation.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-334562" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Steve-Smith-fifty.jpg" alt="Steve Smith" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-334562" class="wp-caption-text">Steve Smith. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Leading a team with the legacy as great as that of Rajasthan is no easy task. But, Steve Smith, the ex-Aussie captain and a current batting powerhouse, has made that difficult task look very easy. Filling in the shoes of captains like Shane Warne and Rahul Dravid is a task that no one would want to do, but Smith has made that look so easy that no one expected to be.

Just like Dhoni, Smith was also tasked with leading the team in its comeback season after a two-year gap. But, bad luck struck him, when he was banned from playing the tournament for that season, after his involvement in the ball-tampering controversy, popularly known as the ‘sandpaper gate’ came to light.

He made a return to the tournament in the 2019 season but was not able to replicate the performances that he was expected to. And, adding to the pressure, he was handed over the captaincy duties halfway through the tournament. But, coming into this season, he must be more confident, having had a great time in the Australian dressing room. He would be brimming with confidence and will definitely look to give his best shot at winning the cup, a decade after the win in the inaugural season.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-337553" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Kane-Williamson1.jpg" alt="Kane Williamson" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-337553" class="wp-caption-text">Kane Williamson. (Photo: IANS)</figcaption>

A perfect example of a gentleman, a person who remained calm and had a smile on his face, even when his national team lost the World Cup final, in a way that no one anticipated, Kane Williamson, has been performing the responsibility of leading the Sunrisers Hyderabad team with full-on perfection.

When he was given the responsibility to lead the team in 2018, after David Warner’s suspension for a year owing to his involvement in the ‘sandpaper gate’, everyone doubted Williamson’s abilities to adapt to the shortest format of the sport. But, Williamson being the gentleman he is, slid into the role, like he was made for it, and led the team to the second place. He silenced his critics and proved his worth as a T20I player.

Since then, there has been no looking back for Williamson. And, with Warner making a strong return in the last season, it would be easy for him to get inputs from someone, whenever the team is in a spot of bother. Having said that, there is a big task at hand for Williamson, which is to manage the players in his squad, because many old faces left and new ones came in during this season’s auction.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-331775" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni-5.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-331775" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Leading a team with as big a fan base as that of the Chennai Super Kings, and successfully deliver on every challenge and expectations, is a really tough task. But, for ‘Thala Dhoni’ it seems to be like a literal cakewalk. The way MS Dhoni has seen the Chennai based franchise, through for so many reasons, it is nothing but a miracle that he has managed to pull off year after year.

The return that the team made, after a two-year exile, after being labeled as a group of old players, is an example enough to prove how well MS has lead the team. He knows what players to pick in what situation so well that, in the 2018 season, when CSK was making a comeback after two years, and everyone&#8217;s eyes were pinned on what players does he and the team management pick, MS went with the original core and mixed them up with the youngsters, to make a squad that on the trophy.

Also, the fact that he has given the national team a player every year, with the latest one being Deepak Chahar, proves that his mentorship skills are way beyond the ordinary. The only thing that is not in his favour is his growing age and his absence from the cricketing scene for almost a year now. But, the fans must remain assured that he will make sure that they are not disappointed at all.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-336483" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Rohit-Sharma-shot.jpg" alt="Rohit Sharma" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-336483" class="wp-caption-text">Rohit Sharma. (Photo: IANS)</figcaption>

The most successful captain of the Indian Premier League, the one who has led his team to 4 title wins, most in the history of the league, tops the list of the captains in this season too. Rohit Sharma, who will be leading his home town’s team, Mumbai Indians in the 2020 edition of the tournament and will go in with hopes of lifting the cup twice in a row.

Under his captaincy, the Mumbai Indians have risen to another level. A team that had gotten into the playoffs thrice, before he took over the leadership role, now has won tournaments every alternate year. The ‘MI Paltan’ the way Rohit has to lead it, has become a force to reckon with and a strong contender of the title every season. And, getting into this season, the team would be confident to win the title for the fifth time.

The team that Rohit has at his disposal and the leadership qualities he possesses, there will be little to worry about for the fans of the team. With players like Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, Chris Lynn and Keiron Pollard in the side, it will all come down to how Rohit displays his talent of man management, which he has perfected over the years.

<p>Every year, when a team wins, their success is attributed to a team effort where everyone collectively made an effort to see their team through to the pole position. But, one person that gets the most yet the least amount of attention is the captain of the team. No matter how talented a group of players is, the person who makes them a successful team is the captain.</p>
<p>Not only this. He is also the one who has to go up to the broadcasters and journalists and answer the boatload of questions, after every match the team loses. And, in many cases, even taking the blame upon himself. The best of the captains are those, who organize the team, keep every player in check and make sure they are giving their best every day by sending in some amount of constructive criticism after every game.</p>
<p>So, here’s a look at the rankings of the captains of every team, before the start of IPL 2020:</p>
<h3>8. Shreyas Iyer (Delhi Capitals)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_340207" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-340207" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-340207" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Delhi-players.jpg" alt="Delhi players" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-340207" class="wp-caption-text">Delhi Capitals. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS)</figcaption></figure>
<p>The Indian player, who has had a great time with the national team, but will be tested thoroughly in IPL 2020, is Shreyas Iyer. With the arrival of veterans like Ajinkya Rahane and Ravi Ashwin into the team, his problem of talent management has amplified a lot, and he will have to skim through a lot of names, before deciding whom to leave and whom to keep.</p>
<p>The fact that Shreyas is still young, as compared to the players in his team, taking the call of leaving seasoned campaigners out of the team could be a tough task for him to perform. And, this could also be his key to success in this season. If and only if he is able to say no to the right players at the right point of time, he will be able to get the best out of the talent pool he has at his disposal.</p>
<p>But, if he fails to do and is not able to pick the right combinations, he will not be able to see his team through to the later stages. He will have to adapt to handling a more experienced line-up of players than he has handled so far.</p>
<h3>7. KL Rahul (Kings XI Punjab)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_339187" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-339187" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-339187" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/KL-Rahul.jpg" alt="KL Rahul" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-339187" class="wp-caption-text">KL Rahul. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS)</figcaption></figure>
<p>The time that KL Rahul has had with the Indian team, in the last few months would have surely brought a ton of smiles on the faces of the fans and the management of the Kings XI Punjab franchise. Especially due to the fact that following the departure of Ravi Ashwin, it is KL Rahul, who has been assigned to carry out the duties of being the captain of the franchise.</p>
<p>But, this fact would also be worrying for those, who know how little experience does KL Rahul has in this department of the sport. Though he gave a glimpse of his efficiency in performing this duty, during a match against New Zealand, no one has seen him perform the duty of the captain at the highest level, for an entire season of a tournament.</p>
<p>And, going into the 2020 season, the lack of experience that the team has, will be a major factor of worry for KL Rahul. It will be interesting to see how Rahul performs in this role. But, the top brass of the KXIP side would be sweating out of nervousness to see how he performs in this role and how far is he able to take the team.</p>
<h3>6. Dinesh Karthik (Kolkata Knight Riders)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_338683" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-338683" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-338683" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Dinesh-Karthik.jpg" alt="Dinesh Karthik" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-338683" class="wp-caption-text">Dinesh Karthik. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
<p>The Kolkata Knight Riders have had a journey on the same tangent as that of Dinesh Karthik’s career. A promising start, followed by years of poor performances and finally a period when everything that was done, turned out to be perfect and with almost no complaints.</p>
<p>Ever since Gautam Gambhir left the leadership of the team, things have not been the same for the team that had won the championship twice in three years not that long ago. Last season, KKR finished on the 5th position and things that went wrong were somewhat because of the lack of clarity in the leadership of the team.</p>
<p>Karthik, for the 2020 season will have a lot of things to look into if he wants to get the team even close to the trophy. Replicating what Gautam did with the team can be a tough task for anyone, but since Karthik is there on that role, it is his duty to live up to the expectations. And, make the fans rejoice the victories as frequently as they used to do in the yesteryears.</p>
<h3>5. Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_337721" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-337721" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-337721" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Virat-Kohli.jpg" alt="Virat Kohli" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-337721" class="wp-caption-text">Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Virat Kohli, the name is enough for giving the bowlers bowling to him goosebumps and send a chill down their spines. But, one thing that Kohli has not been able to do well is the captaincy. Somehow, since the year he has taken over as the captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, things have not been exactly great for them and they have not been able to win a title.</p>
<p>The team has the best players from across the globe. But, together as a squad, things have not gone exactly the way that their leader, Virat Kohli would have wanted to and hence the criticism that he receives for not being able to perform his abilities as the captain of the team. He has been doing really well in leading the Indian team to victories in series after series. But, hasn’t been able to replicate the same performances for his franchise.</p>
<p>Going into this season, considering the fact that it is the year of the T20 World Cup he will look to win the cup for the team at all costs. But, the thing that he will have to take care of will be the talent pool of players that he has at his disposal for this season, keeping a close eye on everyone who can do well in a given situation.</p>
<h3>4. Steve Smith (Rajasthan Royals)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_334562" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-334562" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-334562" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Steve-Smith-fifty.jpg" alt="Steve Smith" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-334562" class="wp-caption-text">Steve Smith. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Leading a team with the legacy as great as that of Rajasthan is no easy task. But, Steve Smith, the ex-Aussie captain and a current batting powerhouse, has made that difficult task look very easy. Filling in the shoes of captains like Shane Warne and Rahul Dravid is a task that no one would want to do, but Smith has made that look so easy that no one expected to be.</p>
<p>Just like Dhoni, Smith was also tasked with leading the team in its comeback season after a two-year gap. But, bad luck struck him, when he was banned from playing the tournament for that season, after his involvement in the ball-tampering controversy, popularly known as the ‘sandpaper gate’ came to light.</p>
<p>He made a return to the tournament in the 2019 season but was not able to replicate the performances that he was expected to. And, adding to the pressure, he was handed over the captaincy duties halfway through the tournament. But, coming into this season, he must be more confident, having had a great time in the Australian dressing room. He would be brimming with confidence and will definitely look to give his best shot at winning the cup, a decade after the win in the inaugural season.</p>
<h3>3. Kane Williamson (Sunrisers Hyderabad)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_337553" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-337553" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-337553" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Kane-Williamson1.jpg" alt="Kane Williamson" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-337553" class="wp-caption-text">Kane Williamson. (Photo: IANS)</figcaption></figure>
<p>A perfect example of a gentleman, a person who remained calm and had a smile on his face, even when his national team lost the World Cup final, in a way that no one anticipated, Kane Williamson, has been performing the responsibility of leading the Sunrisers Hyderabad team with full-on perfection.</p>
<p>When he was given the responsibility to lead the team in 2018, after David Warner’s suspension for a year owing to his involvement in the ‘sandpaper gate’, everyone doubted Williamson’s abilities to adapt to the shortest format of the sport. But, Williamson being the gentleman he is, slid into the role, like he was made for it, and led the team to the second place. He silenced his critics and proved his worth as a T20I player.</p>
<p>Since then, there has been no looking back for Williamson. And, with Warner making a strong return in the last season, it would be easy for him to get inputs from someone, whenever the team is in a spot of bother. Having said that, there is a big task at hand for Williamson, which is to manage the players in his squad, because many old faces left and new ones came in during this season’s auction.</p>
<h3>2. MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_331775" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-331775" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-331775" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni-5.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-331775" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Leading a team with as big a fan base as that of the Chennai Super Kings, and successfully deliver on every challenge and expectations, is a really tough task. But, for ‘Thala Dhoni’ it seems to be like a literal cakewalk. The way MS Dhoni has seen the Chennai based franchise, through for so many reasons, it is nothing but a miracle that he has managed to pull off year after year.</p>
<p>The return that the team made, after a two-year exile, after being labeled as a group of old players, is an example enough to prove how well MS has lead the team. He knows what players to pick in what situation so well that, in the 2018 season, when CSK was making a comeback after two years, and everyone’s eyes were pinned on what players does he and the team management pick, MS went with the original core and mixed them up with the youngsters, to make a squad that on the trophy.</p>
<p>Also, the fact that he has given the national team a player every year, with the latest one being Deepak Chahar, proves that his mentorship skills are way beyond the ordinary. The only thing that is not in his favour is his growing age and his absence from the cricketing scene for almost a year now. But, the fans must remain assured that he will make sure that they are not disappointed at all.</p>
<h3>1. Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_336483" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-336483" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-336483" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Rohit-Sharma-shot.jpg" alt="Rohit Sharma" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-336483" class="wp-caption-text">Rohit Sharma. (Photo: IANS)</figcaption></figure>
<p>The most successful captain of the Indian Premier League, the one who has led his team to 4 title wins, most in the history of the league, tops the list of the captains in this season too. Rohit Sharma, who will be leading his home town’s team, Mumbai Indians in the 2020 edition of the tournament and will go in with hopes of lifting the cup twice in a row.</p>
<p>Under his captaincy, the Mumbai Indians have risen to another level. A team that had gotten into the playoffs thrice, before he took over the leadership role, now has won tournaments every alternate year. The ‘MI Paltan’ the way Rohit has to lead it, has become a force to reckon with and a strong contender of the title every season. And, getting into this season, the team would be confident to win the title for the fifth time.</p>
<p>The team that Rohit has at his disposal and the leadership qualities he possesses, there will be little to worry about for the fans of the team. With players like Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, Chris Lynn and Keiron Pollard in the side, it will all come down to how Rohit displays his talent of man management, which he has perfected over the years.</p>

<p>Every year, when a team wins, their success is attributed to a team effort where everyone collectively made an effort to see their team through to the pole position. But, one person that gets the most yet the least amount of attention is the captain of the team. No matter how talented a group of players is, the person who makes them a successful team is the captain.</p>
<p>Not only this. He is also the one who has to go up to the broadcasters and journalists and answer the boatload of questions, after every match the team loses. And, in many cases, even taking the blame upon himself. The best of the captains are those, who organize the team, keep every player in check and make sure they are giving their best every day by sending in some amount of constructive criticism after every game.</p>
<p>So, here’s a look at the rankings of the captains of every team, before the start of IPL 2020:</p>
<h3>8. Shreyas Iyer (Delhi Capitals)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_340207" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-340207" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-340207" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Delhi-players.jpg" alt="Delhi players" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-340207" class="wp-caption-text">Delhi Capitals. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS)</figcaption></figure>
<p>The Indian player, who has had a great time with the national team, but will be tested thoroughly in IPL 2020, is Shreyas Iyer. With the arrival of veterans like Ajinkya Rahane and Ravi Ashwin into the team, his problem of talent management has amplified a lot, and he will have to skim through a lot of names, before deciding whom to leave and whom to keep.</p>
<p>The fact that Shreyas is still young, as compared to the players in his team, taking the call of leaving seasoned campaigners out of the team could be a tough task for him to perform. And, this could also be his key to success in this season. If and only if he is able to say no to the right players at the right point of time, he will be able to get the best out of the talent pool he has at his disposal.</p>
<p>But, if he fails to do and is not able to pick the right combinations, he will not be able to see his team through to the later stages. He will have to adapt to handling a more experienced line-up of players than he has handled so far.</p>
<h3>7. KL Rahul (Kings XI Punjab)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_339187" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-339187" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-339187" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/KL-Rahul.jpg" alt="KL Rahul" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-339187" class="wp-caption-text">KL Rahul. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS)</figcaption></figure>
<p>The time that KL Rahul has had with the Indian team, in the last few months would have surely brought a ton of smiles on the faces of the fans and the management of the Kings XI Punjab franchise. Especially due to the fact that following the departure of Ravi Ashwin, it is KL Rahul, who has been assigned to carry out the duties of being the captain of the franchise.</p>
<p>But, this fact would also be worrying for those, who know how little experience does KL Rahul has in this department of the sport. Though he gave a glimpse of his efficiency in performing this duty, during a match against New Zealand, no one has seen him perform the duty of the captain at the highest level, for an entire season of a tournament.</p>
<p>And, going into the 2020 season, the lack of experience that the team has, will be a major factor of worry for KL Rahul. It will be interesting to see how Rahul performs in this role. But, the top brass of the KXIP side would be sweating out of nervousness to see how he performs in this role and how far is he able to take the team.</p>
<h3>6. Dinesh Karthik (Kolkata Knight Riders)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_338683" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-338683" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-338683" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Dinesh-Karthik.jpg" alt="Dinesh Karthik" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-338683" class="wp-caption-text">Dinesh Karthik. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
<p>The Kolkata Knight Riders have had a journey on the same tangent as that of Dinesh Karthik’s career. A promising start, followed by years of poor performances and finally a period when everything that was done, turned out to be perfect and with almost no complaints.</p>
<p>Ever since Gautam Gambhir left the leadership of the team, things have not been the same for the team that had won the championship twice in three years not that long ago. Last season, KKR finished on the 5th position and things that went wrong were somewhat because of the lack of clarity in the leadership of the team.</p>
<p>Karthik, for the 2020 season will have a lot of things to look into if he wants to get the team even close to the trophy. Replicating what Gautam did with the team can be a tough task for anyone, but since Karthik is there on that role, it is his duty to live up to the expectations. And, make the fans rejoice the victories as frequently as they used to do in the yesteryears.</p>
<h3>5. Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_337721" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-337721" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-337721" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Virat-Kohli.jpg" alt="Virat Kohli" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-337721" class="wp-caption-text">Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Virat Kohli, the name is enough for giving the bowlers bowling to him goosebumps and send a chill down their spines. But, one thing that Kohli has not been able to do well is the captaincy. Somehow, since the year he has taken over as the captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, things have not been exactly great for them and they have not been able to win a title.</p>
<p>The team has the best players from across the globe. But, together as a squad, things have not gone exactly the way that their leader, Virat Kohli would have wanted to and hence the criticism that he receives for not being able to perform his abilities as the captain of the team. He has been doing really well in leading the Indian team to victories in series after series. But, hasn’t been able to replicate the same performances for his franchise.</p>
<p>Going into this season, considering the fact that it is the year of the T20 World Cup he will look to win the cup for the team at all costs. But, the thing that he will have to take care of will be the talent pool of players that he has at his disposal for this season, keeping a close eye on everyone who can do well in a given situation.</p>
<h3>4. Steve Smith (Rajasthan Royals)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_334562" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-334562" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-334562" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Steve-Smith-fifty.jpg" alt="Steve Smith" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-334562" class="wp-caption-text">Steve Smith. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Leading a team with the legacy as great as that of Rajasthan is no easy task. But, Steve Smith, the ex-Aussie captain and a current batting powerhouse, has made that difficult task look very easy. Filling in the shoes of captains like Shane Warne and Rahul Dravid is a task that no one would want to do, but Smith has made that look so easy that no one expected to be.</p>
<p>Just like Dhoni, Smith was also tasked with leading the team in its comeback season after a two-year gap. But, bad luck struck him, when he was banned from playing the tournament for that season, after his involvement in the ball-tampering controversy, popularly known as the ‘sandpaper gate’ came to light.</p>
<p>He made a return to the tournament in the 2019 season but was not able to replicate the performances that he was expected to. And, adding to the pressure, he was handed over the captaincy duties halfway through the tournament. But, coming into this season, he must be more confident, having had a great time in the Australian dressing room. He would be brimming with confidence and will definitely look to give his best shot at winning the cup, a decade after the win in the inaugural season.</p>
<h3>3. Kane Williamson (Sunrisers Hyderabad)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_337553" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-337553" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-337553" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Kane-Williamson1.jpg" alt="Kane Williamson" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-337553" class="wp-caption-text">Kane Williamson. (Photo: IANS)</figcaption></figure>
<p>A perfect example of a gentleman, a person who remained calm and had a smile on his face, even when his national team lost the World Cup final, in a way that no one anticipated, Kane Williamson, has been performing the responsibility of leading the Sunrisers Hyderabad team with full-on perfection.</p>
<p>When he was given the responsibility to lead the team in 2018, after David Warner’s suspension for a year owing to his involvement in the ‘sandpaper gate’, everyone doubted Williamson’s abilities to adapt to the shortest format of the sport. But, Williamson being the gentleman he is, slid into the role, like he was made for it, and led the team to the second place. He silenced his critics and proved his worth as a T20I player.</p>
<p>Since then, there has been no looking back for Williamson. And, with Warner making a strong return in the last season, it would be easy for him to get inputs from someone, whenever the team is in a spot of bother. Having said that, there is a big task at hand for Williamson, which is to manage the players in his squad, because many old faces left and new ones came in during this season’s auction.</p>
<h3>2. MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_331775" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-331775" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-331775" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni-5.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-331775" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Leading a team with as big a fan base as that of the Chennai Super Kings, and successfully deliver on every challenge and expectations, is a really tough task. But, for ‘Thala Dhoni’ it seems to be like a literal cakewalk. The way MS Dhoni has seen the Chennai based franchise, through for so many reasons, it is nothing but a miracle that he has managed to pull off year after year.</p>
<p>The return that the team made, after a two-year exile, after being labeled as a group of old players, is an example enough to prove how well MS has lead the team. He knows what players to pick in what situation so well that, in the 2018 season, when CSK was making a comeback after two years, and everyone&#8217;s eyes were pinned on what players does he and the team management pick, MS went with the original core and mixed them up with the youngsters, to make a squad that on the trophy.</p>
<p>Also, the fact that he has given the national team a player every year, with the latest one being Deepak Chahar, proves that his mentorship skills are way beyond the ordinary. The only thing that is not in his favour is his growing age and his absence from the cricketing scene for almost a year now. But, the fans must remain assured that he will make sure that they are not disappointed at all.</p>
<h3>1. Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_336483" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-336483" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-336483" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Rohit-Sharma-shot.jpg" alt="Rohit Sharma" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-336483" class="wp-caption-text">Rohit Sharma. (Photo: IANS)</figcaption></figure>
<p>The most successful captain of the Indian Premier League, the one who has led his team to 4 title wins, most in the history of the league, tops the list of the captains in this season too. Rohit Sharma, who will be leading his home town’s team, Mumbai Indians in the 2020 edition of the tournament and will go in with hopes of lifting the cup twice in a row.</p>
<p>Under his captaincy, the Mumbai Indians have risen to another level. A team that had gotten into the playoffs thrice, before he took over the leadership role, now has won tournaments every alternate year. The ‘MI Paltan’ the way Rohit has to lead it, has become a force to reckon with and a strong contender of the title every season. And, getting into this season, the team would be confident to win the title for the fifth time.</p>
<p>The team that Rohit has at his disposal and the leadership qualities he possesses, there will be little to worry about for the fans of the team. With players like Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, Chris Lynn and Keiron Pollard in the side, it will all come down to how Rohit displays his talent of man management, which he has perfected over the years.</p>

From Iyer, Kohli to Rohit, Dhoni, here we rank the best IPL captains ahead of 2020 season.

Ranking all 8 captains in IPL 2020

IPL 2020 - Every year, when a team wins, their success is attributed to a team effort where everyone collectively made an effort to see their team through