Today in this article we’ll discuss the most successful captains in the history of the Indian Premier League. During the auction of IPL every year, the owners of the team try to buy the best of the best players for their team. Some team owners experiment with their captain while some have permanent captains for a long time. However one thing that everyone can be sure of is that all of these captains are highly talented. Which is why we’ll see which captain has the highest wins in the history of Indian premier league 2008-2023. This will determine who is the most successful captain in the history of IPL.
Most Successful IPL Captains by Games Played and Experience
| Rank | Player | Matches | Won | Lost | W % |
| 1 | MS Dhoni (CSK/RPS) | 226 | 133 | 91 | 59.37 |
| 2 | Rohit Sharma (MI) | 158 | 87 | 67 | 56.32 |
| 3 | Virat Kohli (RCB) | 143 | 66 | 70 | 48.56 |
| 4 | Gautam Gambhir (DC/KKR) | 129 | 71 | 57 | 55.42 |
| 5 | David Warner (DC/SRH) | 83 | 40 | 41 | 49.39 |
| 6 | Adam Gilchrist (DC/KXIP) | 74 | 35 | 39 | 47.29 |
| 7 | Shreyas Iyer (DC/KKR) | 55 | 27 | 26 | 50.90 |
| 8 | Shane Warne (RR) | 55 | 30 | 24 | 55.45 |
| 9 | Virender Sehwag (DC/KXIP) | 53 | 28 | 24 | 53.77 |
| 10 | KL Rahul (KXIP/LSG/PBKS) | 51 | 25 | 24 | 50.98 |
| 11 | Sachin Tendulkar (MI) | 51 | 30 | 21 | 58.82 |
| 12 | Rahul Dravid (RCB/RR) | 48 | 22 | 26 | 45.83 |
| 13 | Kumara Sangakkara (DC/KXIP/SRH) | 47 | 15 | 30 | 34.04 |
| 14 | Kane Williamson (SRH) | 46 | 22 | 23 | 48.91 |
| 15 | Sanju Samson (RR) | 45 | 22 | 23 | 48.88 |
| 16 | Dinesh Karthik (DC/KKR) | 43 | 21 | 21 | 50.00 |
| 17 | Steve Smith (PWI/RPS/RR) | 43 | 25 | 17 | 59.52 |
| 18 | Yuvraj Singh (KXIP/PWI) | 43 | 21 | 21 | 50.00 |
| 19 | Saurav Ganguly (KKR/PWI) | 42 | 17 | 25 | 40.47 |
| 20 | Suresh Raina (CSK/GL) | 34 | 14 | 18 | 44.11 |
| 21 | George Bailey (KXIP) | 30 | 14 | 16 | 46.66 |
| 22 | Mahela Jayawardene (DC/Kochi/KXIP) | 30 | 10 | 19 | 35.00 |
| 23 | Hardik Pandya (GT) | 31 | 22 | 9 | 70.96 |
| 24 | Rishabh Pant (DC) | 30 | 16 | 13 | 55.00 |
| 25 | Ravichandran Ashwin (KXIP) | 28 | 12 | 16 | 42.85 |
| 26 | Faf du Plessis (RCB) | 27 | 14 | 13 | 51.85 |
| 27 | Anil Kumble (RCB) | 26 | 15 | 11 | 57.69 |
| 28 | Ajinkya Rahane (RPS/RR) | 25 | 9 | 16 | 36.00 |
| 29 | Eoin Morgan (KKR) | 24 | 11 | 12 | 47.91 |
| 30 | Shane Watson (RCB/RR) | 24 | 8 | 13 | 39.13 |
Most Successful IPL Captains by Win Percentage
Here is the list of the most successful IPL team captains sorted by overall win percentage (at least 20 matches).
| Position | Player | Mat | Overall Win % |
| 1 | Hardik Pandya (GT) | 31 | 73.33 |
| 2 | Steve Smith (PWI/RPS/RR) | 43 | 59.52 |
| 3 | MS Dhoni (CSK/RPS) | 225 | 59.19 |
| 4 | Sachin Tendulkar (MI) | 51 | 58.82 |
| 5 | Anil Kumble (RCB) | 26 | 57.69 |
| 6 | Rohit Sharma (MI) | 158 | 56.32 |
| 7 | Shane Warne (RR) | 55 | 55.45 |
| 8 | Gautam Gambhir (DC/KKR) | 129 | 55.42 |
| 9 | Rishabh Pant (DC) | 30 | 55 |
| 10 | Daniel Vettori (RCB) | 22 | 54.54 |
| 11 | Virender Sehwag (DC/KXIP) | 53 | 53.77 |
| 12 | Faf du Plessis (RCB) | 27 | 51.85 |
| 13 | KL Rahul (KXIP/LSG/PBKS) | 51 | 50.98 |
| 14 | Shreyas Iyer (DC/KKR) | 55 | 50.9 |
| 15 | Dinesh Karthik (DC/KKR) | 43 | 50 |
| 16 | Yuvraj Singh (KXIP/PWI) | 43 | 50 |
| 17 | Harbhajan Singh (MI) | 20 | 50 |
| 18 | David Warner (DC/SRH) | 83 | 49.39 |
| 19 | Kane Williamson (SRH) | 46 | 48.91 |
| 20 | Sanju Samson (RR) | 45 | 48.88 |
IPL Captains With the Most Tournament Wins
While we saw what captains have more winning percentage and who have more matches. However at the end what comes down is which captain has won the highest number of IPL trophies or the IPL Captain with Most Tournament wins. There are only three captains in the history of IPL who have lifted the IPL cup more than once in their IPL history MS Dhoni , Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir.Â
- MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings to five IPL wins in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2023.
- Under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, the Mumbai Indians lifted the IPL trophy five times in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020.
- Kolkata Knight Riders have also won the IPL twice in 2012 and 2014 under Gautam Gambhir’s leadership.
So these are the captains with the highest number of trophies in the history of Indian Premier League 2008-2023.
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