In terms of title wins, Rohit Sharma is the most successful IPL captain, having won five trophies in the Indian league
The 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has some newly-appointed skippers like Mumbai Indians’ Hardik Pandya or Chennai’s Ruturaj Gaikwad. In terms of success, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma—the three most prominent names in Indian cricket—are the only active cricketers in the IPL who have played over 200 matches as captains, but in this edition, none of them are serving as the respective team’s captain. Gautam Gambhir, who led KKR to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014, is also regarded as one of the best.
In the following paragraphs, let us take a look at some of the most successful captains in the tourney’s history.
IPL 2024 may not have panned out as expected because Captain Cool is no longer CSK’s captain. However, he is definitely the best captain in IPL’s history, winning 133 matches out of 226 captained, resulting in a win percentage of 59.37.
Rohit Sharma is the most successful captain in the history of the IPL, with five trophies for the Mumbai Indians. Ever since taking over the captaincy from Ricky Ponting, former captain Rohit has always been at home wearing the captain’s band.
With a win percentage of 56.32, Rohit played 158 matches as captain, leading his team to 87 wins. He suffered 67 losses as captain and also led the team in two tied games.
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Sharma with all his IPL trophies
While the above two stalwarts have won five trophies each, Virat Kohli failed to lead RCB to an IPL title. He led the team in 143 games, winning 66 games and losing 70 matches with three ties (48.56 winning percentage). Despite not winning a single IPL trophy, he is still considered the third-best IPL captain in the tournament’s 17 years of existence.
Former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir ranks fourth on the list despite leading the team to two IPL titles. He managed the team in 129 games, winning 71 matches but losing 57. One game ended in a tie, and Gambhir ended his captainship tenure with a win percentage of 55.42.
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Gambhir with the IPL trophy sharing the screen with KKR’s owner Shah Rukh Khan
With the exception of the Rajasthan Royals’ Shane Warne, it is not often that a non-Indian captain is so successful in the IPL. Despite the controversy surrounding him and Warner having to miss one year of international cricket and the IPL due to suspension, his leadership has been on point. The Australian star did not allow all of that to affect his batting as well.
He served as the captain of two IPL teams, SunRisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils, securing a win percentage of 49.39. He served as the captain in 83 games, winning 40, losing 41, and two games ending in draws.
