5 overseas stars whose performance improved after becoming their IPL team's captain
Captaining an IPL franchise is a bit different than leading an international side. The international teams are under more pressure compared to IPL skippers.
However, the cricketers playing the skipper's role in IPL need better communication skills because stars from all over the world play in the competition. Also, the captains need to satisfy the team owners.
The team management always keeps an eye on the top individual performers for the captaincy role. Unfortunately, when their teams assign leadership duties to the top players, many of them lose their form under the extra pressure.
Meanwhile, a select bunch of cricketers have shown improvement after they got the responsibility of leading their franchise.
Multiple IPL franchises have preferred naming overseas players as IPL team captains after they impressed with their performances. In this article, we will look at those five foreign stars whose numbers improved once they became their respective team's captain.
5. Kane Williamson won the Orange Cap while leading SRH in IPL 2018
Sunrisers Hyderabad appointed David Warner as their skipper in 2015. The Hyderabad-based franchise lifted its maiden IPL trophy in the 2016 season, and it seemed like Warner would continue in his position for an extended period.
Unfortunately, Warner received a one-year suspension from international cricket because of his involvement in the infamous ball-tampering scandal. Even the BCCI barred him from participating in IPL 2018. As a result, the Sunrisers Hyderabad had to replace him with Kane Williamson as the team's captain.
Williamson surpassed expectations in his first season as SRH captain. In the preceding three seasons, the Kiwi batsman had aggregated 411 runs for the team in 15 innings. He scored only three fifties in three seasons.
However, after becoming SRH's skipper, Williamson amassed 735 runs in the IPL in 2018, slamming eight half-centuries. His batting average was over 50 that season, while his strike rate was 142.44.
4. David Warner
As mentioned earlier, David Warner became the Sunrisers Hyderabad team captain in 2015. The Orange Army acquired his services at the 2014 Auction. But in the 2014 season, Shikhar Dhawan and Darren Sammy captained the Sunrisers team.
Warner scored 528 runs in 14 innings for SRH that year. Since taking over the team's reins, the Aussie opener has scored at least 548 runs in every IPL season. He has won the IPL Orange Cap twice. On top of that, Warner led the team to the trophy in 2016 by aggregating 848 runs at a 150+ strike rate.
While Warner's numbers were excellent in the 2014 season, they only got better after becoming the leader.