IPL 2024: Captains with most matches in the Indian Premier League history

There have been four players who have captained their side in more than 100 matches and there are only two who have the privilege of captaining more than 150 matches in IPL history

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is not only one of the most followed leagues in the world, but it is also one of the richest cricket leagues in the world. Captaining a side here means carrying the responsibility of millions of fans on your shoulders. Thus, only some have been successful leaders in the 16-year-old history of the wealthiest cricket leagues in the world.

Check India vs England 2nd Test full scorecard

Check India vs England 2nd Test Day 2 live score and match updates here

However, there have been four players who have captained their side in more than 100 matches and only two have the privilege of leading in more than 150 matches in IPL history. But only one has done it in over 200 matches. Does captaining in most matches make a player the most successful leader?  Let's take a look at stats revolving around the top five captains, who led the team in most number of matches.

MS Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has captained the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and now defunct Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) in a record 226 matches. Out of those, the Thala of CSK fans has won 133 and lost 99, taking his win percentage to 58.84. This is the highest for any captain with over 80 matches in IPL’s history.

Dhoni has five trophies as the leader of the Yellow Brigade and has made it to the tournament's final a record 11 times.

Rohit Sharma

Second on the list of players with the most matches as captain of a team is Rohit Sharma. The Mumbai Indians’ leader, who won all their five trophies and holds the record of never losing a final, will not be captaining the blue brigade anymore as they announced Hardik Pandya as their captain for the IPL 2024

However, from 2013-2023, the Hitman led the Mumbai side in 158 matches, winning 87 of them and losing 67. His win percentage of 55.06 is only behind Dhoni's.

Virat Kohli

Another Indian who has been a prolific leader of an IPL franchise is Virat Kohli. However, Kohli’s captaincy will always be remembered as a reign without a big trophy. He could neither win a world title for India nor was the modern-day master able to take his Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) side to a title in 11 seasons as a captain.

Kohli captained RCB in 143 games, winning 66 and losing 70 of them. He is the only captain who lost more matches in a list of captains with more than 100 matches under their belt as the leader of a side in the Indian Premier League.

Gautam Gambhir

Remembered as a man who gave Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) the taste of victory, Gautam Gambhir found a new fandom with his aggressive captaincy style. He won two titles for KKR, and to date, those are the only two titles the team has in its kitty. Gambhir has rejoined KKR for IPL 2024 as a mentor, and thus, brighter things are expected from the Shreyas Iyer-led side.

Gambhir also led Delhi Capitals (DC) apart from KKR and, in total, played as captain in IPL for 129 times, winning 71 matches and losing 57. His win per cent of 55.03 is only marginally behind Rohit’s 55.06.

David Warner

The fifth and final name on the list is David Warner. Warner has captained Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and DC. He was a make-shift skipper of the Capitals after Rishabh Pant could not play in the 2023 IPL. Warner’s success as a leader came with the Hyderabad franchise, as he won the title for the team in the 2016 season.

However, his form and leadership dropped considerably, which led to his omission from SRH line-up in the 2021 IPL and eventually being released in 2022. He has won 40 out of the 83 matches he led a team in and lost 41. His winning percentage of 48.13 is better than Kohli's.

Top five captains with most matches in IPL history 

Player	Teams	Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	Win Per Cent
MS Dhoni	CSK, RPS	2008-2023	226	133	91	0	2	58.84
RG Sharma	MI	2013-2023	158	87	67	4	0	55.06
V Kohli	RCB	2011-2023	143	66	70	3	4	46.15
G Gambhir	DC, KKR	2009-2018	129	71	57	1	0	55.03
DA Warner	DC, SRH	2013-2023	83	40	41	2	0	48.19

Stats- ESPNCricinfo