Jos Buttler. (Photo Source: X/Twitter)
MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma are two of the most successful captains in the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament. While Dhoni has won five IPL titles with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Mumbai Indians have equinumerous trophies under Rohit’s able leadership. Gautam Gambhir, Hardik Pandya, Shane Warne, and David Warner are the other captains to win the Indian Premier League trophy.
Apart from being the most successful IPL captains, MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma also feature in the list of highest run-getters in the Indian Premier League history. However, there have been players who feature in this list, but never captained the franchise(s) they played for in the IPL.
Over the years, we’ve seen some outstanding players who were on par with the best on their squads but were never allowed to captain their teams.
Here are the top five run-scorers who never captained their franchise in IPL:
5. Robin Uthappa
Robin Uthappa. (Photo Source: Twitter)
Robin Uthappa has had a constant presence in the Indian Premier League since its inception in 2008. He played for a host of franchises, starting with Mumbai Indians, and finished his career with Chennai Super Kings. In all, he played 205 matches and scored 4952 runs with 27 fifties in the IPL. His average was 27.51 and his strike rate was 130.35 with the highest score being 88. He also kept wickets for a host of franchises.
Despite playing for teams like MI, RCB, PWI, KKR, and CSK, he was never considered for captaincy. The closest he came to captaincy was when KKR was looking for a new captain in IPL 2018 and he was in contention for captaincy. But Dinesh Karthik was named the captain of the side and Uthappa became the vice-captain.
4. Ambati Rayudu
Ambati Rayudu (Photo Source : Twitter)
Ambati Rayudu was the first cricketer to get a BCCI pardon after playing in the Indian Cricket League, and he joined the Mumbai Indians franchise in IPL 2010. He won three IPL titles with the MI franchise in 2013, 2015, and 2017. He was then released from the franchise and joined Chennai Super Kings (CSK) winning three titles with them in 2018, 2021, and 2023. Rayudu announced, after winning the IPL 2023 with CSK, that he was retiring from the league.
The Hyderabad-born batter played 204 games for MI and CSK and made 4348 runs with one century and 22 fifties. His highest score was 100* and he averaged 28.23. Despite his extensive experience in Indian cricket and IPL, Rayudu could only become part of leadership groups and was never considered for captaincy in MI, as Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma led the teams. During his tenure with CSK, he played under leaders like MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja.
3. Jos Buttler
Jos Buttler. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)
Jos Buttler has been part of the Indian Premier League since IPL 2016 when he joined Mumbai Indians. Since then, the explosive stumper-batter shifted to Rajasthan Royals (RR) and this is where he flourished a lot. Buttler has been England’s white-ball captain since Eoin Morgan retired in 2021, but he had never been considered to lead the RR, although he continues to be an integral part of the Rajasthan setup.
Thus far, Buttler has 3,223 runs in 96 outings with 5 centuries to his name and 19 fifties. His best outing with the bat has been a century, striking a match-winning 124. He has a strike rate of 148.32. The Englishman’s best season was IPL 2022 when he made more than 800 runs and equalled Virat Kohli’s record of 4 centuries in a single edition. Captained by Sanju Samson, and it looks like Buttler won’t be captaining the RR franchise, as they have Yashasvi Jaiswal getting ready to take over.
2. Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle (Photo Source: TheCricketWire/Twitter)
Christopher Henry Gayle played for three franchises in the league — Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Punjab Kings. He spent his best years in the Bengaluru-based franchise, forming a formidable batting trio alongside Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Gayle holds the record for the highest individual score in IPL, where he scored an unbeaten 175 off just 66 balls against Pune Warriors India (PWI).
Though the Universe Boss led the West Indies team in different stints in all three formats, in the Indian Premier League the Jamaican cricketer was never considered for captaincy. When he was with RCB, Virat Kohli led the side and during fag end of his career, he played under the captaincy of KL Rahul and Ravichandran Ashwin with Punjab Kings (PBKS). Meanwhile, he finished his IPL career with 4,965 runs in 142 games with 6 centuries and 31 fifties. He averaged 39.72 and had a strike rate of 148.96.
1. AB de Villiers
Ab de Villiers. (Photo Source: Twitter)
Perhaps one of the biggest foreign names to play in the IPL, AB de Villiers started with Delhi Daredevils in 2008, before joining the RCB franchise in IPL 2011 and ended his career after a decade with the franchise. Overall, De Villiers made 5162 runs in 184 games with 3 centuries and 40 fifties. His highest score was 133* and his strike rate was 151.68.
AB de Villiers captained South Africa in the international arena with limited success. It may seem unexpected that a top player like de Villiers, who had a great rapport with Indian fans, did not get the chance to captain the team, but with Kohli in the line-up, he was always the second choice. Perhaps this helped him as well, as he played freely without any pressure, benefitting his franchise.