Captaincy changes are always among the biggest talking points in the Indian Premier League (IPL). While players switching franchises has become common over the years, seeing a captain leave one team and take charge of another often grabs even more attention.
Over the years, several prominent captains have made high-profile switches, leaving behind successful stints with one franchise to begin a new chapter elsewhere. Some managed to recreate their success, while others found it difficult to make the same impact in different environments.
Here are 5 IPL captains who left one franchise to lead another:
5. Adam Gilchrist
The legendary player from Australia, Adam Gilchrist, was one of the pioneers of the Indian Premier League in the early years of the competition. The dashing left-hander led the Deccan Chargers to a championship victory in IPL 2009 as a captain. He led his side from the front that season, smashing 495 runs in 16 matches, with a strike rate of 152.30.
But, ahead of IPL 2011, Gilchrist was picked up by Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in the player auction and was naturally named as captain of the side as well. In the Punjab jersey, though, he could not replicate the same impact as a captain. His record at KXIP was poor, with just 12 wins in 34 matches as a captain. This switch remains one of the major switches in IPL history by a captain.
4. Sanju Samson
The most successful Rajasthan Royals captain ever, Sanju Samson shocked everyone with his stunning trade ahead of IPL 2026 to Chennai Super Kings. The former RR captain led the franchise for five years, with 33 wins in just 67 matches as captain.
Under his captaincy, RR reached their first-ever IPL final since 2008 when they played the IPL 2022 final against the Gujarat Titans. But, after having a poor season in 2025 and struggling with injuries, Sanju Samson decided to part ways with the franchise and was involved in one of the biggest trades in IPL history, with Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran going to the Jaipur-based franchise.
Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer remains one of the most successful IPL captains ever. He has led three different IPL teams, namely DC, KKR, and PBKS to an IPL final as a captain, and that speaks volumes of his credentials as a captain.
In IPL 2024, the three-time IPL winners KKR claimed their third IPL title under Shreyas Iyer’s leadership, and everyone expected that this would be the start of a long journey for both Iyer and KKR. But, to everyone’s surprise, Shreyas was released in the IPL 2025 auctions by KKR. He was then bought by PBKS for a record price of INR 26.75 crore. This remains one of the few instances where an IPL-winning skipper was released by a team ahead of the next season.
Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir enjoyed a stellar IPL career, both as a player and as a captain. The left-hander first captained an IPL side in IPL 2009 when he was named the captain of the Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals). He led them for one more year before switching to KKR in IPL 2011.
He was bought by KKR for a record price of $2.4 million in 2011, and that marked the start of his beautiful journey with the Kolkata-based franchise. He built a literal dynasty at KKR under his captaincy, winning the IPL title twice. But, ahead of the IPL 2018 auction, he decided to part ways with the franchise and returned back to Delhi as a captain. After a string of poor results, he stepped down as Delhi’s captain and eventually retired from IPL after the same season.
Hardik Pandya
The most high-profile IPL switch happened in 2024 when Gujarat Titans’ championship-winning captain Hardik Pandya was traded to the Mumbai Indians ahead of the 2024 edition. What made this even more surprising was that he replaced Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians’ captain. Hardik remains one of the most successful IPL captains ever, but his stint with MI has been far from successful.
In the three seasons under the star all-rounder’s leadership, the five-time champions managed to reach the playoffs only once while finishing at the last position in 2024. They further had a ninth-spot finish in the most recent 2026 season, following which, talks of the Choryasi-born player being traded to other franchises have caught fire once again, with Rajasthan Royals and CSK being the frontrunners to bag him.
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Author: vishal_jagtap
