Brand Value vs Winning Titles: Ex-India Batter Sanjay Manjrekar Weighs In on IPL Captaincy Debate

Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar advocates for IPL franchises to appoint the best available captain, even if they are an overseas player. He argues that tactical acumen should be prioritized over the commercial benefits of having an Indian player as the face of the franchise, citing the success of foreign captains.

Former India cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar expressed his views that the IPL franchises should hand over the captaincy duties to the overseas players in the tournament. In the recently concluded IPL season, Pat Cummins was the only overseas captain, leading the Sunrisers Hyderabad into the playoffs.

The remaining nine were the Indian captains, out of which six, including Hardik Pandya, Ruturak Gaikwad, Rishabh Pant, Ajinkya Rahane, Axar Patel, and Shreyas Iyer, failed to guide their respective teams to the playoffs. Ishan Kishan captained the SRH in the first half of the season in Cummins’ absence before the Australian pacer returned to his leadership role after recovering from a back injury.

Rajat Patidar and Shubman Gill led the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Gujarat Titans to the IPL 2026 final, with RCB successfully defending their maiden triumph, which they won in the last IPL season under Patidar’s captaincy by clinching a narrow victory in a thrilling summit clash.

Redefining the IPL Skipper: Manjrekar’s Simple Philosophy

Sanjay Manjrekar, who has often been outspoken and direct in his analysis of the game, emphasized that franchises must priortize tactical acumen and leadership performance over the commercial benefits of having a local face as the team's captain.

“I think we've also seen a lot of Indian captains struggle. You mentioned players like Axar Patel and Rishabh Pant. There have been quite a few Indian captains who haven't quite delivered." Manjrekar said on the Sportstar Podcast.

“My philosophy is simple: in T20 cricket, you need the best captain available. If that happens to be a foreign player, then so be it. David Warner captained successfully, Pat Cummins has done it as well," he added.

Over the past 19 seasons, three overseas captains, including Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, and David Warner, all from Australia, have won the IPL titles with the Rajasthan Royals, Deccan Chargers (now defunct), and Sunrisers Hyderabad, respectively. MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, Hardik Pandya, and Rajat Patidar are the only Indian players to have tasted success as captains in IPL.

However, Manjrekar’s comments serve as a timely reminder that in the high-stakes environment of modern T20 cricket, the pursuit of tactical excellence may necessitate looking beyond national boundaries to secure the most effective leaders.

Why Franchises Appoint Indian as Captains?

Further speaking on the IPL captains, Sanjay Manjrekar explained the reason behind franchises’ appointing Indians as their skippers, stating that there is a significant non-cricketing motivation at play, but merely as a face of the teams to bolster the franchise’s brand value and marketability.

"That said, there is a non-cricketing reason why franchises often prefer Indian captains. An Indian captain becomes the face of the franchise and strengthens the brand," the former India batter said.

“Ultimately, franchises have to decide what is better for the brand and what is better for winning titles. Ideally, the captain should be someone who is genuinely a good leader, regardless of nationality," he added.

The likes of MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli have been instrumental in setting the gold standard for captaincy-driven brand equity in the IPL, and their association with the Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, respectively, helped the franchises build a massive fanbase over the years.

Meanwhile, Rajat Patidar joined Dhoni and Rohit in the elite list of captains to have back-to-back IPL titles as a captain.