In a tournament like IPL, the role of captain is of utmost importance given that the game can change very quickly. However, it is not an easy job to lead a side in such a big tournament. The franchises also do not give a longer run to a player if he fails to perform as a captain. There have been few cricketers who have enjoyed a long run in captaincy because of their consistent performance. In this article, we will be discussing the 5 most successful captains in IPL history. This includes only those players who have captained in a minimum of 10 matches.
Former Australian player Cameron White featured for RCB, Deccan Chargers, and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. He took over the captaincy of DC mid-season from Kumar Sangakkara in IPL 2012. In the next season, he captained the SRH side. In the 12 matches White captained, 7 were won by the team making his success percentage 58.33 in the tournament.
MS Dhoni is the only player who captained a side in the 2008 edition and is still leading a team. He won 3 IPL trophies for CSK under his captaincy in the year 2010, 2011, and 2018. In total, Dhoni has captained 188 matches and has won 110 of them which takes his winning percentage to 58.82. Except for 2 seasons in 2016 and 2020, He led his team to the IPL playoffs in all the seasons. He also holds the record for playing most IPL matches as a captain.
Sachin Tendulkar did not get much success as an Indian captain but he did quite well leading the Mumbai Indians team. Under him, MI reached the finals in the 2010 edition where they were defeated by CSK in the last. Overall, Sachin was captain for a total of 51 matches and won 30 of these matches with a win percentage of 58.82. Later, Rohit Sharma took over from him as skipper.
Steve Smith has proved his leadership skills in both T20 leagues and international cricket. He did a brilliant job with the Pune team when he was given captaincy replacing MS Dhoni in 2017. He also led the Rajasthan Royals team for multiple seasons. In total, Steve Smith won 25 matches out of 42 he captained, making him the second most successful IPL captain.
With 5 IPL trophies in 8 years as captain, Rohit Sharma is definitely the best captain in tournament history. He has won more than 60 percent of the match, he has captained in. In total, He has led the team in 116 IPL games with 70 of them resulting in a win. Rohit was Mumbai’s skipper in their successful campaigns in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020.
| Player | Match | Won | Lost | Win percent |
| Rohit Sharma | 116 | 70 | 45 | 60.34 PM |
| Steve Smith | 42 | 25 | 16 | 59.52 | Sachin Tendulkar | 51 | 30 | 21 | 58.82 | MS Dhoni | 188 | 110 | 77 | 58.82 | Cameron White | 12 | 7 | 5 | 58.33 |
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