Of the 10 IPL captains, 7 are not part of India’s current T20 team. Big names like Gill, Pant and Iyer are also out of the national team, highlighting a huge gap between IPL captaincy and national selection.
New Delhi: Before the 19th season of the Indian Premier League, a photoshoot of all the captains took place. It is the biggest T20 franchise league in the world, which is full of name, fame, titles and legendary players. But an interesting thing came to light. Of the captains of the 10 teams, seven players are not part of India’s current T20 squad. There are only Ishan Kishan, Akshar Patel and Hardik Pandya in the team. Apart from these three names, the rest of the captains are either out of the team or their names are not even being considered for the T20 format.
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane
Let’s start with Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane. KKR has expressed confidence in Rahane’s experience. But the reality is that it has been three years since Rahane played any international match and a decade has passed since he last played a T20 match for India. While many teams are handing over the reins to the new generation, Kolkata thought in the opposite direction. The team has young faces like Rinku Singh, Cameron Green and Rachin Ravindra, but whether they are ready for captaincy is a big question.
From Shubman Gill to Rishabh Pant
The two most important names in this list are that of Gujarat Titans captain Shubhman Gill and Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant. Gill was dropped from India’s T20 squad just ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup and was replaced by Sanju Samson. The main reason for this was that Gill’s style of playing was not matching with Team India’s T20 strategy. This new season is a big opportunity for Gill to regain the lost place.
Whereas, Rishabh Pant was the number one wicketkeeper of the team that won the 2024 T20 World Cup. But it has been almost two years since this left-handed batsman was out of the team. At present, Sanju Samson is the main wicketkeeper and Ishan Kishan is also in the team. In such a situation, the selectors are confused as to where to fit Pant in the T20 team. In the current situation, it is not easy for Pant to return to the team.
Ruturaj Gaikwad
Chennai Super Kings has been confused about captaincy for years. Efforts to find MS Dhoni’s successor were going on for many seasons. After several experiments, the team settled on the name Rituraj Gaikwad. It has been many years since Ruturaj was away from the Indian T20 team. He last played for India in this format in 2024 against Zimbabwe.
Trust in Rajat Patidar
Rajat Patidar of Royal Challengers Bangalore has proved that international experience is not necessary to win the IPL title. Patidar has made his debut for India in ODI and Test, but he has not got a chance in T20 yet. Nevertheless, he did for RCB what even legends like Dravid, Kohli, Kumble and Du Plessis could not do.
Shreyas Iyer showed strength even after being out of T20 team
It has been more than two years since Shreyas Iyer, who took Punjab Kings to the final, was out of the T20 team. Despite battling injuries, Iyer is still an important part of the ODI team. His batting style is perfect for T20 and there is no doubt that he has the potential to become the future captain of the Indian team.
Riyan Parag
Riyan Parag is being seen as the successor to Sanju Samson in Rajasthan Royals. This middle order batsman, just 24 years old, played his last T20 match for India in 2024. Seeing the increasing demand for all-rounders, Parag has also worked on his off-spin in the IPL. Therefore, Parag’s name might be included in India’s future T20 plans.