The Indian Premier League pits the best leaders in the game against one another. This year all eight teams are currently being led by Indians and it is natural for their leadership skills to be compared with that of India captain Virat Kohli.

Recently, former India opener Gautam Gambhir created a flutter by suggesting Kohli is lucky to be still leading Royal Challengers Bangalore despite poor returns over the years and that the India skipper is not as good in the IPL as someone like Rohit Sharma, who has won the title three times for Mumbai Indians.

West Indies icon Brian Lara – who was in Dubai for the Global Education and Skills Forum – too picked Rohit as his favourite captain in the IPL.

“My favourite captain would have to be Rohit Sharma. I think, he handles his team very well,” the 49-year old told Sport360 on Sunday.

LARA’S TEAM

Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians are the undisputed heavyweights of the IPL, lifting the title thrice apiece. Both franchises have scores of supporters across the globe, not just in India. But Lara is backing a ‘minnow’ this season. The left-handed genius picked the unheralded Delhi Capitals, earlier the Daredevils, to finally come out of their shell and aim for glory.

Delhi have oscillated between poor and terrible over the years, regularly finishing at the bottom of the table. But with a new management and name, the leadership group of coach Ricky Ponting and captain Shreyas Iyer will be hoping to put years of misery behind them. They have brought in Shikhar Dhawan to go with a star-studded Indian batting and international bowling line-up. And Lara feels this year might be the one for Delhi.

“I am backing the two big cities – Mumbai and Delhi,” Lara added.

“Delhi have never raised the trophy and I feel Ricky Ponting has an opportunity as coach to bring the team together. He had them last year but they didn’t perform very well. But I believe they have the right mix of players. And maybe the desire now, or the embarrassment of not winning, could come into play.”