The Indian Premier League (IPL) saw the inclusion of two new franchises this year, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and the Gujarat Titans (GT). Alongside these changes, a number of teams have also made their own shifts in terms of leadership this season.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are now being led by Shreyas Iyer while Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have handed in their reigns to Faf du Plessis after Virat Kohli stepped down in 2021. Chennai Super Kins (CSK) have a new leader called Ravindra Jadeja and Punjab Kings (PBKS) is being led by Indian batter Mayank Agarwal after KL Rahul joined Lucknow as their captain. Gujarat Titans (GT) has roped in all-rounder Hardik Pandya as their new captain.
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Let’s take a look at how the new captains are faring so far in 2022’s IPL.
Hardik Pandya
The GT captain is having a decent run in the tournament so far, scoring some runs while also chipping in with four overs of bowling in the fixtures. Pandya has played in four matches so far, scoring 141 runs at an average of 47. Pandya is also looking steady while batting, evident during an Umran Malik over showing composure despite being hit.
Shreyas Iyer
The KKR captain’s performance is not looking the best as yet. He barred the game against his former franchise Delhi Captains at Brabourne Stadium. He registered scores of 20 not out, 13, 26, 10 in the first four matches before notching up his first fifty of the season which a knock of 54 against Delhi. This took his run tally to 123. He has also faced issues against the spinners, being dismissed three times out of four by them. His attempt to accelerate against the spinners is not working for Iyer.
KL Rahul
KL Rahul has played five matches and he has scored 132 runs at an average of just over 26. Rahul has scored a couple of ducks as well despite having a half-century and a 40 in this edition so far. While Rahul has always been seen among runs in competitions while leading a side, this has not been the case this year.
Faf du Plessis
Faf du Plessis had a good time in the 2021 edition while he was still at CSK. Last year, he amassed a total of 633 runs in 16 matches. While fans thought that 2022 was off to a good start, Plessis has failed to carry the success after the aggressive 88 against the Punjab Kings. So far, he has managed to score 138 runs at an average of 34.50 in 4 matches. Faf has not been able to find the middle of the bat against the spinner yet.
Mayank Agarwal
Things are not looking great for Mayank Agarwal either. He has scored 42 runs in four matches with 32 being his top score. He has been miscalculating his shots while also facing troubles against good lengths and short deliveries. Agarwal is also not controlling his strokes and he has been caught three times out in four games.
Ravindra Jadeja
Chennai Super Kings’ captain is struggling with both bat and ball this season. In the four matches that he has played so far, he has only scored 66 runs at an average of 22 and only picked one wicket. He has been a vital player for CSK but his failure has create a workload for the team management to find a perfect balance in the team.
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