'IPL 2025 is going to be defined by the role that captains play'

Q: So another season of the IPL is upon us, and Indian fans are ready to dig into the extravaganza, especially in the afterglow of the Champions Trophy victory. The defending champions KKR have brought in veteran Ajinkya Rahane as their captain, squashing rumours that the job would go to Venkatesh Iyer. KKR is one of the better-run teams in the IPL, and they won the title thrice, but what goes into making such a move, and how do you think Rahane will fare?

This edition of the IPL is going to be defined by the role that captains play. We saw last year the change which happened in Mumbai Indians; Hardik Pandya taking over from Rohit Sharma, and the team didn't fare well at all. Hardik was no spring chicken. He had won the IPL title for Gujarat Titans but it didn't work out at MI. So this is an interesting change that KKR have implemented. After Shreyas left, it seemed that Venkatesh Iyer was the man to take over but it didn't happen. Obviously, they've got their reasons. I think they went for experience and their formula seems to be to go with the tried and trusted guys. 

Rahane doesn't have great captaincy experience, except for a couple of seasons maybe with Rajasthan Royals. But they've guys like Sunil Narine and Andre Russell in whom they put their faith in to support Rahane in the hope that the team will be able to recreate last year's magic.

Coming to the man that KKR did have to let go, Shreyas Iyer has rejoined Ricky Ponting at Punjab Kings. They had a sort of successful partnership at the Delhi Capitals, making it to the 2020 final. But we know that Punjab Kings are a franchise that likes to push the reset button once every two years or so. Now, what do you think is different this time?

Apart from the fact that they've got a champion captain at the helm, they've got Ricky Ponting, who must be hungry for success as he didn't achieve much at Delhi Capitals. He was there for a few seasons, and everybody thought he'd deliver. It didn't happen. So both of them together can make a formidable combo. 

Like you said, their frequent resetting means they seem to be a fairly unsettled team every season. I think it's going to be a pretty tough task for Ponting and Iyer to get everybody into the swing of things and look to win the title. The difference is very marginal in terms of talent and experience among the 10 teams in the IPL. So it's how you gel, how the captains respond, how the players respond to the captain etc that are going to matter.  

The most expensive buy of the mega auction was Rishabh Pant who takes up the captaincy responsibility at LSG. We remember how their last captain KL Rahul was treated even before the camera. What happens in case Pant, with this price tag, doesn't deliver the results that they want? Do you think we will see a repeat of last year?

Different personalities, Rishab Pant and KL Rahul are, so who knows... The burden of expectation will be very heavy on Rishabh Pant as a batter and a match-winning captain. Since he couldn't win the title with Delhi Capitals, he's got a point to prove too.

And Pant has got some heavy-duty arsenal at his disposal at LSG. Alongside Nicholas Pooran and David Miller, Pant forms an explosive trio of left-handers. They've got a whole array of bowlers too that is largely Indian barring a Shamar Joseph. But DC got some problems with their pace attack at the moment as a lot of them are in NCA and rehab. So once again, how well they gel together is the question. 

Pant needs to pick up his own form as well. He didn't play in the Champions Trophy, but he needs to get cracking from the word go, because that's the best way to make his team respond to his decisions.

Rajat Patidar has taken up the responsibility at RCB. The team has invested a lot in the young man who'll rely heavily on the experience of Virat Kohli. Do you think it is added pressure for him that he's leading a franchise that has such a wonderful fan base but hasn't won in 17 years? Or is he likely to go into it saying that I have nothing to lose?

I think the pressure will be enormous. In a recent talk to the media, Kohli said that Patidar is the next big thing in Indian cricket and not just the franchise setup. He is reposing a lot of faith in his new captain and himself must be hungry as hell. By run aggregate, Virat is IPL's number one batter but has no title to show for it yet. 

They've also offloaded players like Mohammad, Siraj, Faf du Plessis, and Glen Maxwell. Instead, they got Josh Hazelwood and Krunal Pandya, which is an interesting buy. They've got Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, who can be an asset. Still, the small M. Chinnaswamy Stadium can be murderous for fast bowlers. And then they've got Liam Livingstone, a proven match-winner. We haven't seen enough of his all-round prowess, which everybody talks of highly, in the IPL yet. So they've got a decent team, but they'll have to do all the hard running.

Axar Patel has been promoted as the DC skipper. He has been stepping up for India in white-ball cricket and was part of two successful ICC trophy-winning campaigns. What do you think of this Delhi Capitals under Axar Patel?

Axar Patel, as you mentioned, has made rapid strides in whatever format he's played in. He was originally the understudy to Ravindra Jadeja. We saw what happened with Jadeja when he was made captain of CSK -- it didn't work out well for him at all. He had to kind of relinquish the job halfway through and MS Dhoni took over again. So while the captaincy is a big boost for Axar Patel as a player, he'll have to do a lot of things right which the side have not succeeded in doing so far.

We do have an India vs England Test series coming up right after the IPL, and given their woes in the test format recently, how much of a factor do you think IPL performance will be because India will need a lot of technically sound batsmen there...

Yeah, I think that's going to be a bit of a dilemma for the selectors, isn't it? I mean, you know, you have nothing between the IPL and the England Test series. What the Australia and New Zealand defeats showed was the absence of players in the middle order who could play red ball cricket with a degree of assurance and technical skill, especially in daunting situations. I think they need a couple of players who will shore up the batting. Now, who are these players likely to be? I think you have to go back to past performers, or somebody who's done really well in the domestic season.

I think selectors can't ignore Karun Nair when they're choosing the team for England. And then otherwise, there is Ajinkya Rahane or Cheteshwar Pujara, who's also been a very good performer overseas and has played two or three seasons of county cricket in England. Ajinkya Rahane and Karun Nair both have got a lifeline in this IPL. Pujara doesn't even have an IPL contract, so you can't judge him at all. But I think Ajit Agarkar and company just can't ignore these three guys.