Well, being crowned the captain of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is nothing short of a dream for numerous cricketers out there. However, over the years, prominent cricketers, including Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Ricky Ponting have relinquished their IPL captaincy for numerous reasons, leaving their hardcore fans and supporters in utter shock and disbelief.
From making effective bowling decisions to executing timely fielding changes, the role of a captain is undoubtedly challenging in the shortest cricket format of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and apparently only a few of the most prominent cricketers have been able to justify their captaincy role in the IPL since its inception in 2008.
In this article we will take a look at the top four cricketers who gave up on their IPL captaincy for various reasons.
Top 4 Cricketers Who Gave Up On Their IPL Captaincy
Virat Kohli – Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
The legendary Indian international cricketer and one of the most seasoned players of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Virat Kohli, is at the first spot in our list of the top four cricketers who gave up on their IPL captaincy. Virat Kohli was assigned as the captain of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) franchise in 2013. However, under Kohli’s captaincy the RCB squad failed to clinch even a single IPL title.
Kohli announced in the second leg of the IPL 2021 edition that it would be the last year of his captaincy. According to the reports, workload management was one of the major reasons why Kohli made the hard decision to give up on his IPL captaincy. However, the RCB flag-bearer assured the fans that he would continue to play for the franchise in the upcoming years.
KL Rahul – Delhi Capitals (DC)
At the second spot in our list of the top four cricketers who gave up on their IPL captaincy, we have KL Rahul. Although KL Rahul had been a bit out of form for a couple of years, his match-winning performance throughout the most recent 2025 ICC Champions Trophy season.
Owing to his recent successful exploits on the field, KL Rahul was acquired by the Delhi Capitals (DC) franchise for a staggering INR 14 crore and was also offered the coveted captaincy of the team for the entire upcoming IPL 2025 season. However, KL Rahul, who has recently regained his form, deliberately chose to turn down the captaincy offer and focus entirely on his growth as a player ahead of the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Ricky Ponting – Mumbai Indians (MI)
Often hailed as one of the greatest and most reliable batsmen in the history of international cricket, the legendary Australian former cricketer Ricky Ponting is at the third spot in our list of the top four cricketers who gave up on their IPL captaincy. Well, the IPL 2013 season shockingly proved to be a nightmare for the legendary batsman of the Australian side as he failed to perform and ended up scoring only 52* runs in a total of 6 IPL matches at an average of 10.4.
Despite being a seasoned player, Ricky Ponting stepped down from his IPL captaincy of the Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise in order to allow Rohit Sharma to take over as the new skipper of the MI squad.
Gautam Gambhir – Delhi Capitals (DC)
Finally, at the fourth spot in our list of the top four cricketers who gave up their IPL captaincy, we have Indian former international cricketer and current coach of the Indian cricket team, Gautam Gambhir. Well, after guiding the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise to two victory titles in the IPL, Gautam Gambhir joined the Delhi Capitals squad in the IPL 2018 edition.
Although Gambhir was expected to be one of the greatest flag bearers for the Delhi Capitals (DC) squad and lead them to a spine-chilling streak of victories, he majorly failed in reviving their fortune. Therefore, at mid-season of the IPL 2018, Gautam Gambhir gave up on his IPL captaincy, handing it over to Shreyas Iyer for the remaining season.
