3 IPL Captains Who Should Step Down After 2026 Season

It’s a tale as old as cricket. Whenever a team loses, the first question goes to the captain.

The IPL broadcasters have started to do it literally, too, which has caused a bit of a stir already. No wonder some captains in IPL 2026 might have had enough of it after what was a roller-coaster league stage.

How much of a role a captain plays is debatable. Some believe a team is as good as its captain — for example, Sanjay Manjrekar recently said that MS Dhoni would have taken Chennai Super Kings to the top four, which Ruturaj Gaikwad couldn’t — while others think that it’s the opposite.

With the rise of analysts and the growing role of head coaches, it won’t be wrong to assume that the captains’ roles have changed over the past few years. Yet, whichever

camp you belong to, you would agree that in T20 cricket, where every ball matters, no team should carry a liability.

IPL 2026 | Schedule | Results | Orange Cap | Purple Cap

All six teams that failed to qualify for the playoffs this year would want to shake things up. Some, like Shreyas Iyer, would still be untouchable at Punjab Kings, while Hardik Pandya might consider leaving the Mumbai Indians but becoming a captain elsewhere.

Below, we look at three names who are better off stepping down from captaincy in their respective set-ups, for it could benefit their careers as well as their teams.

Rishabh Pant

Sunil Gavaskar defends Rishabh Pant for using the F word on live TV after LSG’s loss to RR. https://t.co/6bK1FqYH2y

— News18 CricketNext (@cricketnext) May 25, 2026

It has gone as badly as it could for Rishabh Pant, the captain, in the last 24 months. In his first season at the helm of the Lucknow Super Giants, he was on a record salary and failed to take them beyond a seventh-placed finish.

He ended the season with only 269 runs, most of which came from a century in the dead-rubber match at the end of the league stage, and celebrated like no captain should in that situation. In 2026, he didn’t even get that, managing 312 runs at an average of 28.36, with only one half-century.

He himself said that his team was pretty good (although in R-rated words), and they did have an excellent bowling attack, which is something they could build around next year. But Pant never seemed to get the best out of himself or his team, making several basic mistakes on the field.

For example, in the recent match against the Rajasthan Royals, he hardly bowled Mohsin Naqvi against Vaibhav Sooryavanshi until it was too late, despite the pacer’s excellent record against the 15-year-old.

As the season went on, Pant started to have more and more bite in his words, and repeatedly suggested that there were ‘too many’ voices in his head. Indeed, LSG had one of the biggest — if not the biggest — support staff behind them, and Pant never seemed happy about it.

As one of the most talented cricketers, he could be much better served without the burden that comes with constant decision-making. He can use the time to work on the faults that have crept into his game and get back to run-scoring ways, which would eventually relieve him further.

Ajinkya Rahane

We have previously been extensive in our analysis of why the Kolkata Knight Riders can benefit from Ajinkya Rahane not being the captain. To be fair to him, as a leader off the field, he kept a hold of his emotions, said the right things to the media, and was aggressive with his bowling plans, especially in the second half.

But as a batter, Rahane was, to be blunt, a liability. He managed only 335 runs across 14 innings, averaging 25.77 and striking at 135.08. In 2025, Rahane slightly helped himself by having one of the best strike rates in the powerplay overs, but in 2026, he even lost that and struck in the low 120s.

It’s hard to say whether an anchoring batter like Rahane still has any value in the IPL or in T20 cricket. He is still one of the best technicians against pace, so he could play a pinch-hitter role in the powerplay for some matches, but that would need KKR to be without the burden of seeing him as the leader.

Ruturaj Gaikwad

Words of Yellove 💛
Straight from the hearts of our lions 🦁

A Thread 🧵#WhistlePodu pic.twitter.com/FRzM6vX4WK

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) May 24, 2026

Gaikwad had one of his worst seasons in the IPL. The right-hander scored 337 runs for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with a strike rate of 123.44.

In almost every match of the season, he either struggled to accelerate in the powerplay or just looked like he did not want to accelerate, which was worse. On the other end, Sanju Samson played without pressure, and this lopsided nature of CSK’s opening partnership clearly hurt them throughout.

CSK need changes from the top. A new coach can come and convince Gaikwad to perhaps drop down to number three from the next season onwards, or maybe push him to learn from the likes of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul to fully accept the needs of this format.

But Gaikwad can also do it for himself. By not giving CSK the chance to think about his future, he can let it go, and invite Samson, who has done it before, to take the extra burden. It might just help him get the clarity he needs to push his case for the Indian team.