In any sport, the captains have a big role to play. They can set the path and inspire the teammates to follow their lead. The same thing applies to cricket or in this case, IPL.
Over the years, the franchises have appointed plenty of captains in order to work out a proper combination. At the first sight of trouble, the players look up to their captain to help them wriggle out of any tough situation. Not many possess the leadership skills required to portray that role. On that note, we take a look at the captains who have been the most successful in the biggest T20 league:
10) Sachin Tendulkar
The ‘Master Blaster’ had a good stint as captain for Mumbai Indians. However, under his captaincy, they failed to win the IPL despite a lot of talented players in the squad. In the first couple of years in the league, MI finished in the bottom half of the table.
In 2010, they turned their fortunes around and finished at the top of the table. However, they lost to CSK in the final by 22 runs. Tendulkar remained the captain of MI till 2012 and ended with a record of 30 wins in 51 matches as the leader of the side.
9) Virender Sehwag
The swashbuckling opener was never able to lead the national side, but was appointed as the captain for two franchises, Delhi Daredevils [now Delhi Capitals] and Kings XI Punjab [now Punjab Kings]. He led the Delhi side to the playoffs stage in 2012, after finishing comfortably at the top of the table.
However, the team lost the qualifier 1 to eventual champions KKR and the eliminator to the CSK side. Nevertheless, Sehwag has an excellent captaincy record, having won 28 games out of the 53 that he’s led in the IPL. That amounts to a win rate of 53.77, which is quite good for a player without prior captaincy experience.
8) Steve Smith
Smith led the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiants to the final in the 2017 IPL edition. Although they lost to Mumbai Indians by a solitary run in the final, Smith established himself as one of the bright captaincy prospects for Australia until the sandpaper gate.
Albeit a relatively smaller sample size, Smith’s record in the IPL is pretty good. In the 42 games that he has captained a side in the IPL, Smith has won 25 games while losing just 16. He also led Rajasthan Royals in a couple of seasons before being released off duties ahead of the 2021 season.
7) Virat Kohli
Although Virat Kohli is known as a once-in-a-generation type of batsman, his captaincy record in the IPL has come under the scanner quite a few times. After Virat took over the reins at a young age, RCB has made it to the finals twice but has failed to win the IPL even once.
Under Kohli’s captaincy, RCB has played 110 games where they’ve come out on top on 49 occasions, losing 55 in the process. That amounts to a win rate of 47.16%, which is relatively low compared to his captaincy record for India.
6) Adam Gilchrist
Gilchrist is the third Australian to make the list. After the Deccan Chargers’ horrendous debut in IPL 2008 where they got the wooden spoon, Gilchrist proved to be the catalyst in an amazing turnaround the very next season, when they defeated RCB in the finals of the 2009 edition that was held in South Africa.
He was also named as the player of the tournament, scoring close to 500 runs in 16 matches. Although the wicket-keeper’s win percentage isn’t as great as the others, 47.29% to be precise, he is still credited as one of the biggest reasons for Deccan Chargers’ first victory.
5) Shane Warne
Another Aussie captain makes the list and this time it’s the spin legend, Shane Warne. The leg-spinner was the coach and captain of Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural edition of the IPL. He led them to the title in that season, with a bunch of inexperienced players in the team.
Unfortunately for the Royals, they haven’t tasted victory ever since and after Warne’s retirement from IPL in 2011, it has all been going downhill. Warne captained the RR franchise in 55 games, winning 30 games in the process.
4) David Warner
Warner has been Sunrisers Hyderabad’s best batsman and arguably the most consistent foreigner in the IPL. He was the first foreign batsman to reach 5000 runs in the IPL. Based on his performances, he was rightfully announced as the captain of SRH in 2015.
In 2016, the year that SRH won the tournament by defeating RCB, the southpaw stacked a mammoth 848 runs in the tournament. In 69 games, Warner has led his team to 35 victories and 33 losses. In the 2021 IPL, he was removed from captaincy and subsequently the team following a string of poor performances.
3)Gautam Gambhir
Gambhir took over the captaincy role in 2011 and led Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL trophy in 2012 and 2014. In 2012, Kolkata beat the two-time champions Chennai Super Kings to win their first title and two years title later, they defeated the high-flying Kings XI Punjab by chasing 200 in the final successfully.
His style of captaincy was the aggressive and in-your-face kind where he was constantly seen setting attacking fields for his bowlers. Gambhir has captained the side in 128 games, with 70 wins to show for it.
2) MS Dhoni
The Indian wicketkeeper-batsman has many international trophies, including three ICC trophies namely 2007 T20 World Cup, the 2011 ODI World Cup, and the 2013 Champions Trophy. But the experienced skipper also has three IPL trophies as skipper for CSK in his cabinet.
Under MS Dhoni, CSK won the titles in 2010, 2011, and 2018. They also made it to the playoff stage in every single edition of the IPL starting from 2008, until the streak was cut short in the 2020 IPL. The 39-year old has captained in 195 games, winning 115 and losing 79 games, with a win rate of 58.97.
1) Rohit Sharma
After Rohit Sharma took over the captaincy at Mumbai Indians, the Wankhede-based franchise has won four titles under his captaincy: in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020. He has led MI in 123 fixtures while enjoying 74 victories and endured 48 losses, a healthy win rate of over 60.
Rohit took over captaincy mid-way through the 2013 IPL when Ricky Ponting decided to step down from the role. After his appointment, fortunes swung around for Rohit as a batsman as well. His success at the international level is partially credited to his rise as a captain for Mumbai Indians.