The Indian Premier League (IPL) will contest its 13th edition in the UAE, beginning September 19 and here we take a look at the IPL captains who will be leading their respective franchises.

While the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings – the tournament’s most successful teams have stuck to their inspirational captains Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni, Kings XI Punjab have found a new leader in KL Rahul. The Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad will be lead by Steve Smith and David Warner respectively, thereby being the only teams to be lead by overseas internationals.

Here’s a detailed look at all the captains for IPL 2020.

Mumbai Indians captain: Rohit Sharma

The star India opener Rohit Sharma is the most successful IPL captain in the history of the tournament, having led the side to four titles, including in 2019. Under his leadership, Mumbai Indians will hope to continue scaling down new heights in the 2020 season.

Chennai Super Kings captain: MS Dhoni

One of India’s most successful captains, MS Dhoni, who announced his retirement last month, has also enjoyed immense success in the IPL. He has led Chennai Super Kings to three titles, the most recent of which came in IPL 2018. They nearly defended that title successfully in IPL 2019, before losing to Mumbai in a nail-biting final and finishing runners up for the fifth time.

This time though, he’ll have a tough task on his hands in absence of the experienced Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh, both of whom opted out of playing in the tournament this year. But don’t be surprised if he inspires the younger lot to excel, like he’s done many times in the past.

Kolkata Knight Riders captain: Dinesh Karthik

The experienced wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik was made the captain of two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders before IPL 2018. KKR have since not added to that tally despite performing reasonably well across the two editions. They made the playoffs of IPL 2018 and only narrowly missed a spot in the top four during the 2019 season. Can Karthik, under the guidance of the new head coach Brendon McCullum and England skipper Eoin Morgan, help KKR find silverware in the 2020 IPL?

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain: David Warner

Sunrisers Hyderabad have reinstated David Warner as captain of the franchise for IPL 2020. He replaces New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, who was the full-time SRH captain since the 2018 IPL. Under Warner’s leadership, SRH won their first-ever title, in 2016, and also reached the playoff the next year, where they finished fourth.

Warner has been exceptional with the bat for the franchise across seasons, and was the highest run-getter in IPL 2019. Overall, he’s scored a staggering 3,271 runs at 55.44 for SRH since he joined them in 2014. The team’s hopes, once again, rest on his shoulders.

Rajasthan Royals captain: Steve Smith

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The Australian, whose national captaincy suspension by Cricket Australia expired in March 2020, was made captain of Rajasthan Royals midway through the 2019 IPL season, in the wake of the team’s sub-par performances under Ajinkya Rahane. Steve Smith‘s captaincy credentials are solid, with him having led Rising Pune Supergiant to the final in IPL 2017. Rajasthan, whose lone title win came in the inaugural edition in 2008, will bank on Smith’s experience to get their first taste of IPL silverware in over a decade.

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain: Virat Kohli

India’s most successful Test captain Virat Kohli is yet to taste IPL success, even though he’s been at the helm of Royal Challengers Bangalore since IPL 2012. More worryingly for the franchise, RCB have finished at the very bottom of the points table in two of the last three seasons, only managing to come sixth in the other. But things might yet be different for the side in IPL 2020, as Kohli will work with new management set-up, including director of cricket operations Mike Hesson and head coach Simon Katich.

Delhi Capitals captain: Shreyas Iyer

The 25-year-old Shreyas Iyer is the youngest among the IPL 2020 captains. He was put in charge of Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) midway through the 2018 season, replacing Gautam Gambhir. Iyer has been tasked with reversing fortunes of one of the least successful IPL teams, but the early signs have been promising. Under his captaincy, DC made it to No.3 on the points table in 2019, inspired by some solid performances by youngsters Rishabh Pant and Prithvi Shaw.

Kings XI Punjab captain: KL Rahul

R Ashwin, who was captain of Kings XI Punjab in 2019, was transferred to Delhi Capitals. On the day of the IPL 2020 auctions, KXIP announced that opener KL Rahul will be their new skipper. “We felt that it was the right time for him to take the leadership role,” said head coach Anil Kumble. The right-hander was among the top three run-getters of the tournament in the last two seasons, amassing 593 runs at 53.90 and 684 runs at 52.61.

Earlier this year, Rahul, in absence of the injured Rohit Sharma, successfully lead India during their defense of 163-3 against New Zealand at the Bay Oval, helping the team secure a 5-0 whitewash. At KXIP though, he has an uphill task: they haven’t made the playoffs since losing out to KKR in the 2014 final.

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