List of Indian Premier League captains
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In cricket, a captain is a player who leads the team and has additional roles and responsibilities.[1][2] The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional league for Twenty20 cricket in India,[3] which has been held annually since its first edition in 2008.[4][5]
In the 19 seasons played till 2026, 73 players have captained their team in at least one match.[6] Mumbai Indians' Rohit Sharma and Chennai Super Kings's MS Dhoni are the most successful captains with five IPL titles each.[7][8] Dhoni also holds the records for most matches (229) and most wins (134) as a captain.[9][6] Shreyas Iyer, Mahela Jayawardene, Ajinkya Rahane, Kumar Sangakkara, and Steven Smith are the only players to have captained three different teams,[10][6] with Iyer being the only captain to have led three different sides to the finals of the IPL.[11] Kolkata Knight Riders is the only team to have won IPL with different captains.[12]
Key
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| First | Year of the first IPL match as a captain |
| Last | Year of latest IPL match as a captain |
| Matches | Number of matches as a captain |
| Team(s) | Team(s) for which the player has played as captain in at least one match |
| Won | Number of games won |
| Lost | Number of games lost |
| Tied | Number of games tied |
| NR | Number of games with no result |
| Win% | The percentage of games won by that captain[a] |
| [†] | Players who captained their sides in the 2026 season |
Captains
The list includes those players who have captained an IPL team in at least one IPL match. The list is organised by the number of matches as a captain and if the numbers are tied, the list is sorted by the date of first match as captain[b].
| Player | Nationality[c] | First | Last | Matches | Team(s) | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | Win% | Titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MS Dhoni |  India |
2008 | 2025 | 235 | CSK RPS |
136 | 97 | 0 | 2 | 57.87 | 5 |
| Rohit Sharma | India |
2013 | 2023 | 158 | MI | 87 | 67 | 4 | 0 | 55.06 | 5 |
| Virat Kohli | India |
2011 | 2023 | 143 | RCB | 66 | 70 | 3 | 4 | 46.15 | |
| Gautam Gambhir | India |
2009 | 2018 | 129 | DC KKR |
71 | 57 | 1 | 0 | 55.03 | 2 |
| Shreyas Iyer[†] | India |
2018 | 2026 | 94 | DC KKR PBKS |
54 | 35 | 2 | 3 | 57.44 | 1 |
| David Warner | .svg.png){kind=small} Australia |
2013 | 2023 | 83 | DC SRH |
40 | 41 | 2 | 0 | 48.19 | 1 |
| Adam Gilchrist | Australia |
2008 | 2013 | 74 | DCH KXIP |
35 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 47.29 | 1 |
| Sanju Samson | India |
2021 | 2025 | 67 | RR | 33 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 49.25 | |
| Hardik Pandya[†] | India |
2022 | 2026 | 66 | GT MI |
37 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 56.06 | 1 |
| Rishabh Pant[†] | India |
2021 | 2026 | 65 | DC LSG |
31 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 50.00 | |
| K. L. Rahul | India |
2020 | 2023 | 64 | PBKS LSG |
31 | 31 | 2 | 0 | 48.43 | |
| Shane Warne | Australia |
2008 | 2011 | 55 | RR | 30 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 54.55 | 1 |
| Virender Sehwag | India |
2008 | 2015 | 53 | DC KXIP |
28 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 52.83 | |
| Sachin Tendulkar | India |
2008 | 2011 | 51 | MI | 30 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 58.82 | |
| Rahul Dravid | India |
2008 | 2013 | 48 | RR RCB |
22 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 45.83 | |
| Kumar Sangakkara |  Sri Lanka |
2010 | 2013 | 47 | KXIP DCH SRH |
15 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 34.04 | |
| Ajinkya Rahane[†] | India |
2017 | 2026 | 46 | KKR RR RPS |
15 | 28 | 1 | 1 | 32.60 | |
| Kane Williamson |  New Zealand |
2018 | 2022 | 46 | SRH | 22 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 47.83 | |
| Faf du Plessis |  South Africa |
2022 | 2025 | 44 | DC RCB |
22 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | |
| Dinesh Karthik | India |
2010 | 2020 | 43 | DC KKR |
21 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 50.00 | |
| Steven Smith | Australia |
2012 | 2020 | 43 | PWI RPS RR |
25 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 58.13 | |
| Yuvraj Singh | India |
2008 | 2011 | 43 | KXIP PWI |
21 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 50.00 | |
| Saurav Ganguly | India |
2008 | 2012 | 42 | KKR PWI |
17 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 40.47 | |
| Shubman Gill[†] | India |
2024 | 2026 | 34 | GT | 18 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 53.33 | |
| Suresh Raina | India |
2010 | 2019 | 34 | CSK GL |
14 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 41.17 | |
| Pat Cummins[†] | Australia |
2024 | 2026 | 31 | SRH | 16 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 51.61 | |
| George Bailey | Australia |
2014 | 2015 | 30 | KXIP | 14 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 46.66 | |
| Mahela Jayawardene | Sri Lanka |
2010 | 2013 | 30 | KXIP KTK DC |
10 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 35.00 | |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | India |
2018 | 2019 | 28 | KXIP | 12 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 42.85 | |
| Ruturaj Gaikwad[†] | India |
2024 | 2026 | 27 | CSK | 11 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 41.66 | |
| Shikhar Dhawan | India |
2014 | 2024 | 27 | SRH PBKS |
10 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 37.03 | |
| Anil Kumble | India |
2009 | 2010 | 26 | RCB | 15 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 57.69 | |
| Eoin Morgan |  England |
2020 | 2021 | 24 | KKR | 11 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 45.83 | |
| Shane Watson | Australia |
2008 | 2017 | 24 | RR RCB |
8 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 39.13 | |
| Zaheer Khan | India |
2016 | 2017 | 23 | DC | 10 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 43.47 | |
| Daniel Vettori | New Zealand |
2011 | 2012 | 22 | RCB | 12 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 54.54 | |
| Rajat Patidar[†] | India |
2025 | 2026 | 20 | RCB | 15 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 75.00 | 1 |
| Axar Patel[†] | India |
2024 | 2026 | 20 | DC | 8 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 40.00 | |
| Harbhajan Singh | India |
2008 | 2012 | 20 | MI | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | |
| Kevin Pietersen | England |
2009 | 2014 | 17 | DC RCB |
3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 17.64 | |
| Riyan Parag[†] | India |
2025 | 2026 | 16 | RR | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 43.75 | |
| JP Duminy | South Africa |
2015 | 2016 | 16 | DC | 6 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 40.00 | |
| Mayank Agarwal | India |
2021 | 2022 | 14 | PBKS | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | |
| Brendon McCullum | New Zealand |
2009 | 2016 | 14 | KKR GL |
3 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 25.00 | |
| Glenn Maxwell | Australia |
2017 | 2017 | 14 | KXIP | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | |
| Nitish Rana | India |
2023 | 2023 | 14 | KKR | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 42.86 | |
| Aiden Markram | South Africa |
2023 | 2023 | 13 | SRH | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 30.77 | |
| David Hussey | Australia |
2012 | 2013 | 12 | KXIP | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | |
| Cameron White | Australia |
2011 | 2013 | 12 | DCH SRH |
7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 58.33 | |
| Sam Curran | England |
2023 | 2024 | 11 | PBKS | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 45.45 | |
| Aaron Finch | Australia |
2013 | 2013 | 10 | PWI | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 | |
| Ravindra Jadeja | India |
2022 | 2022 | 8 | CSK | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 | |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | India |
2019 | 2023 | 8 | SRH | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 | |
| Murali Vijay | India |
2016 | 2016 | 8 | KXIP | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 37.50 | |
| Ishan Kishan[†] | India |
2026 | 2026 | 7 | SRH | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 57.14 | |
| V. V. S. Laxman | India |
2008 | 2008 | 6 | DCH | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16.66 | |
| David Miller | South Africa |
2016 | 2016 | 6 | KXIP | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16.66 | |
| Krunal Pandya | India |
2023 | 2023 | 6 | LSG | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 50.00 | |
| Kieron Pollard |  West Indies |
2019 | 2021 | 6 | MI | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 66.66 | |
| Ricky Ponting | Australia |
2013 | 2013 | 6 | MI | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | |
| Angelo Mathews | Sri Lanka |
2013 | 2013 | 5 | PWI | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 | |
| Shaun Pollock | South Africa |
2008 | 2008 | 4 | MI | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 75.00 | |
| Darren Sammy | West Indies |
2014 | 2014 | 4 | SRH | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | |
| James Hopes | Australia |
2011 | 2011 | 3 | DC | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | |
| Karun Nair | India |
2017 | 2017 | 3 | DC | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 66.66 | |
| Rashid Khan[†] | .svg.png){kind=small} Afghanistan |
2022 | 2026 | 3 | GT | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 | |
| Jitesh Sharma | India |
2024 | 2025 | 3 | PBKS RCB |
1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 | |
| Suryakumar Yadav[†] | India |
2023 | 2026 | 3 | MI | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 | |
| Dwayne Bravo | West Indies |
2010 | 2010 | 1 | MI | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Manish Pandey | India |
2021 | 2021 | 1 | SRH | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Parthiv Patel | India |
2011 | 2011 | 1 | KTK | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Nicholas Pooran | West Indies |
2024 | 2024 | 1 | LSG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| Ross Taylor | New Zealand |
2013 | 2013 | 1 | PWI | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
Notes
† denotes players who captained their sides in the 2026 season.
- ^ Games that did not have a result are not taken into consideration while calculating the result percentage. Ties are counted as half a win.
- ^ These statistics do not cover the games played in other tournaments such as the Champions League Twenty20, the British Asian Cup or the 2008 Kolkata Knight Riders tour of Australia
- ^ Represents the primary nationality as per ESPNcricinfo. This information may not necessarily reflect the player's birthplace or citizenship.
References
- ^ Cricket Australia; Frank Pyke; Ken Davis (8 March 2010). Cutting Edge Cricket. Human Kinetics. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-7360-7902-0. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- ^ Ken Davis; Neil Buszard (5 April 2011). Cricket: 99.94 Tips to Improve Your Game. Human Kinetics. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-7360-9078-0. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- ^ "ICC Members- India". International Cricket Council. Archived from the original on 25 August 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- ^ "Happy Birthday IPL: Original Teams, Captains in 2009; IPL Revenue Growth From 2008 to 2023". mykhel. 18 April 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ "IPL auction 2011: Teams to spend big for top cricketers". The Economic Times. 2 January 2011. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
- ^ a b c d "Most matches as captain for Indian Premier League". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Full list of IPL winners, their captains and runner-ups in league's history". Business Standard. 26 May 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ "List of captains to win IPL". Khel Now. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ "Best captains in IPL". Jagran Josh. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ "Full list of IPL captains to have led two or more teams in Indian Premier League". Sportstar. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ "Shreyas Iyer creates history". Times Now. 22 May 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ "KKR became first team to win IPL under two different captains". Times Now. 27 May 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
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