In the latest development to the "Sandpaper Gate" incident, Australian skipper Steve Smith has stepped down as the leader of the Rajasthan Royals Indian Premier League 11, which begins on April 7. Speculations are rife about David Warner’s IPL captaincy too. Either the Sunrisers Hyderabad will remove him from the helm, or following Smith’s footsteps, Warner will himself step down as the captain. In either of the two circumstances, here’s looking at 5 possible captaincy replacements for Warner.
5. Wriddhiman Saha
In 2014 IPL Auction Saha was purchased by Kings XI Punjab as a specialist wicketkeeper. In the tournament Saha not only took some good catches but also contributed with the bat. He made 362 runs at an average of 32.90 and a strike rate of 145.38. In the IPL Final against Kolkata Knight Riders Saha became the first player to score a hundred in an IPL final when he made an unbeaten 115 runs from 55 balls, including 10 fours and 8 sixes. He also smash century in 20 balls.
4. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
In 2016, he contributed towards an impressive season after winning IPL 2016 with Sunrisers Hyderabad, he also won the Purple Cap that season for picking up the 23 wickets which was the most. He took five wickets in a match for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2017. In the 2017 Indian Premier League, Kumar won the Purple Cap for the second time in a row for picking up 26 wickets.
3. Kane Williamson
In the 15 matches played by the 27-year-old in the IPL, he has scored 411 runs at a strike rate of 130. He was particularly impressive last season in which he notched up 256 runs in 7 games at a strike rate of 151.
2. Shakib al Hasan
Bangladesh skipper in all three formats, makes Shakib one of the front-runners for the possible vacant post. He has picked up 43 wickets in as much as matches he has played in the IPL, besides scoring 498 runs with the bat, at a strike rate of 130.36.
1. Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan was retained by the Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of the auctions and is expected to form a formidable opening partnership with David Warner. 3561 runs from 127 IPL games makes Dhawan one of the top performers in the tournament and an instant crowd favorite.