Australia is one of the most successful countries at the highest level of the game, and one of the key components of their success over the years has been the captains that they have had to lead their teams. Some of these excellent cricketing brains have also lent their services to the Indian Premier League too. So, let us have a look at the 12 Australian cricket players who have captained an IPL team in the tournament’s history.
1. Adam Gilchrist (Kings XI Punjab, Deccan Chargers)
Widely regarded to be a generational talent when it came to keeping the wickets, batting, and leading his team to success, Adam Gilchrist is one of the most successful Australian players to have played in IPL.
Between 2008 and 2013, he led an IPL franchise in 74 games, where he won 35 and lost 39. The cherry on top of his exploits is the IPL trophy that he managed to win in the second season of the tournament in 2009, with the Deccan Chargers.
2. David Warner (Delhi Daredevils, Sunrisers Hyderabad)
With one title under his belt too, David Warner joins Adam Gilchrist in this list of Australian players who have captained an IPL team in the history of the tournament. As the leader of the Sunrisers Hyderabad, he won the tournament in the year 2016.
Since then he has been on and off the leadership role in the franchise, but whenever he gets a chance to do so, he makes sure that his impact is felt. This is reflected in his win percentage, which is placed at 52.17 percent.
3. Shane Warne (Rajasthan Royals)
The Australian magician with the ball, Shane Warne got his place in the record books in the very first season of IPL, as the one to have captained the champions of the tournament that season, the Rajasthan Royals.
He played in the tournament from 2008 and 2011, where he stuck around with the Royals, and captained the team in 55 games in total out of which, they 28 matches, and lost a meagre 24 of those.
4. Steve Smith (Pune Warriors India, Rising Pune Supergiants, Rajasthan Royals)
The player who was so close yet so far from a tournament, each time he was put into the leadership role, Steve Smith, the Australian master batsman, till date in IPL has captained as many as three franchises, reaching the finals of the tournament once.
In his captaincy career in the tournament which has seen its own share of ups and downs over the years, Steve has managed to maintain a win rate of 59.52 percent in the 43 matches where he was the captain of the team.
5. George Bailey (Kings XI Punjab)
The wonderous batsman from Australia, George Bailey who got the top role of the captain, in the franchise he went to in his IPL career, the erstwhile Kings XI Punjab, has his own very story of rising to fame and the fall.
After a rather successful start to what was going to be a 30 match long captaincy stint with the team, Bailey’s form as the captain plummeted. His team in those 30 games lost 16 and won only 14, which led to his eventual removal from the leadership role.
6. Shane Watson (Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore)
The stand-in captain who could apparently do it all, but not that proficiently lead the sides that he was given the command of, Shane Watson, in spite of having a great individual record in IPL does not have much to show in terms of his numbers when it comes to the matches that he has captained a team in.
In the 24 matches that he captained the team he played for between 2008 and 2017, he managed to take the team to a win in only 8 of those, while a loss came to the team that he was leading on 13 of those.
7. Glenn Maxwell (Kings XI Punjab)
Things for Glenn Maxwell, the flamboyant Australian all-rounder who was given the chance to captain IPL teams too, has been a hit and a miss affair, just like his own personal performances.
With a record of 50 per cent win rate in IPL games, Maxwell just as he is with the bat on the field, having his share of up and down times, looks to have the same thing echoing in his captaincy numbers of the 14 matches.
8. Cameron White (Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad)
A name that is not discussed that often in the discussions of IPL, Cameron White, with as many as 12 matches as the captain under his belt, makes his entry into this list of Australian players who have captained an IPL team.
He captained both the franchises that have been based out of Hyderabad in IPL. In the 12 matches as the leader of these franchises, he managed to win 7 and lose 5 matches, maintaining a respectable win rate of 58.33 percent.
9. David Hussey (Kings XI Punjab)
One of the many captains fielded by the erstwhile Kings XI Punjab, David Hussey is another one of the Australian players who have had the chance to have captained an IPL team in the history of the tournament.
Over the course of a year, between 2012 and 2013, Hussey captained the now renamed KXIP, in a total of 12 games where he managed to maintain a 50 percent win rate, winning half and losing half of the games where he was the captain.
10. Aaron Finch (Pune Warriors)
One of the Australian limited-overs stars, Aaron Finch in IPL 2013 was given the franchise to captain a not much successful franchise, the Pune Warriors. And, as it would turn it, even Finch, who would later go on to lead Australia in several successful limited-overs conquests could do much.
The Finch-led Pune Warriors could win only 2 of the 10 games that they played in, losing 8 of the remaining encounters, bringing down Finch’s success rate as the captain of an IPL franchise to a mere 20 percent.
11. Ricky Ponting (Mumbai Indians)
Arguably the best cricketing brains in the modern-day version of the game, Ricky Ponting’s arrival in the Mumbai Indians camp meant that he was the instant candidate to be chosen as the captain of the side in IPL 2013, hoping to inject some Australian winning spirit into the team.
But, as fate would have it, his run as the captain of the franchise would be cut short only after 6 matches. In those 6 games, Ponting managed to lead his team full of superstars to 3 wins, as his team lost the remaining 3 games, and that was the last that IPL saw of captain Ponting.
12. James Hopes (Delhi Daredevils)
An Australian utility all-rounder in the truest sense, James Hopes in IPL 2011 got a chance to captain the now renamed Delhi based franchise the Delhi Daredevils while they were on a hunt for a more permanent solution to their leadership woes.
Hopes captained Delhi in only 3 games before he was replaced. And in those three games, there was not much that could have gotten Hopes an extension in this role as the team lost 2 matches and the remaining 1 game ended without any result.
