BENGALURU: When Ishan Kishan was appointed interim captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise in the lead-up to the 19th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), it was a small but significant in the competition's history. It meant captains of all franchises would be Indians, at least to begin the season.
Taken in isolation, it may not mean a lot. But pull back the curtains a little bit and analyse it at the macro level. It suggests several things. Mainly, the league, firmly in its adulthood from this year, is willing to experiment in terms of how they appoint captains. Earlier, captains and experience went hand in hand. Captains and the biggest overseas stars of those teams went hand in hand. Not anymore.
Some franchises are beginning to get smarter. It's not a surprise because this is how leagues evolve, mirroring the format's international growth, penchant for data and the need to keep pushing the boundaries wherever possible.
Of course, this doesn't mean any Indian player will be considered for the post of captain but now Indians are more likely to be named as captains when compared to earlier. Earlier, there used to be a demand in franchise cricket to spend extra for the purpose of picking a captain. Boffins of teams in the bigger leagues have realised that specialist captains, in general, do not contribute extra points in a season.
It's why, over the last few seasons, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Axar Patel and, more recently, Rajat Patidar (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) and Kishan were handed the gigs. Outside Gill, none of them were the biggest names, Indian or international, of the side when they were given the job for the first time.
This is an intriguing development for a league which was infatuated with its biggest stars. But after 19 years, it doesn't need any hand-holding anymore.