Playoff Hopes Dashed, Alarm Bells Now Ringing For 5 IPL Captains

Out of the six teams that failed to make it to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 playoffs, five teams face a huge question mark regarding one specific area - captaincy. The reasons are simple. Four of the six teams have failed to qualify for the playoffs in each of the two seasons of the ongoing three-year IPL cycle. On the other hand, one team faced a dramatic drop-off, going from nearly reaching the final in 2025 to almost finishing last in 2026. Let's take a look at the five IPL captains who have alarm bells ringing over their future.

Rishabh Pant - Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)

When LSG splashed Rs 27 crore for Rishabh Pant, making him the costliest player in IPL history, few would've expected the ship to collapse the way it has since. But after a seventh-place finish in IPL 2025, LSG have sunk to rock bottom in IPL 2026. And with that, questions over Pant's captaincy have arisen.

LSG Global Director of Cricket Tom Moody hinted that a reset could take place:

"From a captaincy point of view, you know, he (Pant) has found it challenging. And when it comes to the leadership of the franchise, it's certainly something that we'll be taking some very serious consideration to. Like every department, when you do reflect on a season, we will be making some considered decisions, but it certainly looks like that we're needing to consider a reset," Moody had said.

With Pant taking up nearly one-fifth of LSG's entire budget, he has already resigned as captain. But, his future at the franchise is also under threat.

Hardik Pandya - Mumbai Indians (MI)

Hardik Pandya turned into an extremely unpopular figure at the Wankhede Stadium when he returned to the franchise ahead of IPL 2024 and replaced five-time IPL-winning skipper Rohit Sharma as captain. In 2025, Hardik won back the love after his role in India's T20 World Cup triumph and MI's run to the playoffs. But it seems to be crumbling apart again.

In a franchise containing several past and present Indian captains, it looks like Hardik has not managed to establish himself as the leader. In IPL 2026, MI have also had Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah captain in a few games, with Hardik missing as many as four matches.

MI finished 10th in 2024 in Hardik's first year as captain, and only avoided it in 2026 due to net-run-rate. The five-time IPL champions will be desperate to get back to winning ways in 2027, and many experts have speculated the potential departure of Hardik.

Ruturaj Gaikwad - Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

Chennai Super Kings are currently living through their worst patch in IPL history. Under MS Dhoni, the franchise had made a habit of making the playoffs, qualifying in every season they played in between 2008 and 2019. Even after that, CSK won the title in 2021 and 2023. But those days now seem a distant past.

Ruturaj Gaikwad was handed the leadership by Dhoni ahead of IPL 2024, but has failed to guide CSK to the playoffs in each of the last three seasons. It is a Herculean task to fill Dhoni's boots, but no CSK fan would've imagined three consecutive seasons without a playoff finish.

What has made matters worse is his dwindling form with the bat. Gaikwad managed just 337 runs in IPL 2026, and had the lowest powerplay strike-rate of any batter in the entire tournament. With Sanju Samson now settled into the franchise, CSK have a serious question to answer on whether there should be a transition in captaincy.

Ajinkya Rahane - Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

While Ajinkya Rahane's legacy as a leader in Indian Test cricket folklore is set in stone, his record as an IPL captain is far from envious. In fact, at one point during IPL 2026, Rahane had become the IPL captain with the lowest win percentage among those who have led in 30 or more games.

Much like Gaikwad at CSK, Rahane's poor form with the bat puts his position as captain under more scrutiny. Despite remodelling his T20 game in recent years, Rahane's strike-rate dipped to just 135 in IPL 2026.

After the joy of winning IPL 2024, KKR have failed to mount a firm playoff challenge in 2025 and 2026, finishing eighth and seventh respectively. With Rahane set to turn 38 in a matter of days, KKR will have to mull over a long-term captain sooner rather than later. But should the change take place for 2027 itself? That's a headache KKR will have to deal with in the coming months.

Axar Patel - Delhi Capitals (DC)

For two seasons in a row, Delhi Capitals have flattered to deceive. The franchise won its first four games under Axar's captaincy in 2025, but failed to qualify for the playoffs. In 2026, DC won their first two matches, but then their campaign was hit with inconsistency.

What has not helped Axar is the lack of clarity in team selection at DC. The batting order has been shuffled regularly, while some of the Indian bowlers have not lived up to their billing.

DC are likely to have a change in thinktank next year, with the JSW Group set to take over the running of the franchise. What decision they take in terms of captaincy will certainly be intriguing. Will Axar keep the job? Will KL Rahul be persisted to give captaincy another go? Or will there be a new big-money arrival?

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Topics mentioned in this article

Kolkata Knight Riders Delhi Capitals Lucknow Super Giants Mumbai Indians Chennai Super Kings Ruturaj Gaikwad Ajinkya Rahane Hardik Pandya Axar Patel Rishabh Pant IPL 2026 Cricket