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Delhi. Due to a disappointing campaign in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the captains of three franchises may have to lose their posts after the conclusion of the season later this month. Sources keeping an eye on the ups and downs of different franchises have indicated this. Axar Patel, Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant have captained their team for two consecutive seasons but have failed miserably in their attempts to take their team to the playoffs.

Officially, only Lucknow Super Giants have been out of the tournament, due to which Pant has been a poor performer for two consecutive seasons. But for all practical reasons, Rahane-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Akshar-led Delhi Capitals also have little hope of surviving the last round of the league. Akshar K’s performance as captain and player has been poor, scoring just 100 runs in nine innings at a strike-rate of 112.50, of which 56 runs came in one innings and the remaining 44 runs came in eight innings.

When this has happened, he has batted in the top five most of the time. In these 12 matches, Akshar has bowled only 36 overs which is three overs per match in which he has taken 10 wickets at an economy rate of 8.05. However, fellow spinner Kuldeep Yadav’s economy rate is even worse. “Akshar has completely failed to prove his captaincy ability and is dependent on Hemang Badani and Venugopal Rao to take most of the decisions,” an IPL source said on condition of anonymity. In such a situation, if he remains captain next year also, it will be a miracle.

“There is little hope of the entire coaching staff being retained either,” the source said. Akshar can be retained as a player in the mega auction to be held in 2027. But till now his performance under captaincy has been lackluster. Pant has tried to bat at different positions but it has often felt like he is carrying a lot of burden on his shoulders.

It is common for a franchise to get quick results, but failing to qualify for two consecutive seasons may not sit well with Lucknow Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka. Goenka is known as someone who is willing to pay the price he wants but he is also someone who demands performance that can justify the remuneration. Pant’s 251 runs at a strike-rate of 138 is poor by modern T20 standards. The pressure on him is evident from the fact that he has hit only nine sixes in 11 matches. The rhythm of his bat is also missing and some of the team combination decisions have surprised even the team’s supporters.

Rahane’s appointment at KKR was largely a case of ‘no option’ as the franchise lacked a reliable captain option. His former Mumbai teammate Abhishek Nair was the head coach. However, KKR were upset that Angkrish Raghuvanshi could not perform as per the demands of top-order batsmen in modern T20 cricket.

Raghuvanshi scored 340 runs at a strike-rate of over 139 while captain Rahane scored 237 runs at a strike-rate of 133. Both batted in the top three, resulting in slow starts in almost every match. Both of them together hit only 25 sixes in 11 matches. Rahane and Raghuvanshi should not have played together in the same playing eleven and the management’s stubbornness proved costly for the franchise.

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