3 popular IPL captains who have justified their expensive price tags

The IPL has been a great platform for several uncapped cricketers to showcase their talents. Various cricketers have utilized the tournament wisely and gone on to become stars in the international arena.

The Twenty20 league has also seen bold decisions and innovative moves by intrepid skippers resulting in remarkable triumphs. The IPL has become a developing area for exceptional skippers to emerge.

There have been several million dollar players across all seasons of the Indian Premier League. While some have faltered, some have grabbed headlines on the field. Here are three popular captains who have justified their expensive price tags by leading their respective franchises to IPL titles over the years.

#3 Gautam Gambhir (Kolkata Knight Riders)

In 2009, Gautam Gambhir began his IPL captaincy stint with Delhi Daredevils as an alternate option for Virender Sehwag. He was their full-time leader in the 2010 season.

Gambhir led the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their first play-offs in 2011 before helping them win IPL titles in 2012 and 2014. In additional to his captaincy skills, his batting performances also burgeoned. The southpaw scored 592 runs at an outstanding strike-rate of 143.65 in the 2012 IPL.

Though Gambhir did not perform well with the bat in the 2014 season, his astute leadership was one of the main reasons for Kolkata's triumph.

Gambhir has scored 3037 runs in just seven seasons for KKR. He had been picked up by the franchise for a whopping INR 11.5 crores in the 2012 IPL Auction. The gritty left-hander is among KKR's highest salaried cricketers.