IPL 2026: MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli Lead Elite List— Captains With Most Matches in Indian Premier League | In Pics
MS Dhoni holds the record for playing the most matches as captain in the Indian Premier League. The five-time IPL champion captained Chennai Super Kings and Rising Pune Supergiants in 235 games. He is followed by Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli on the list. Like Dhoni, Rohit, too, has won the IPL trophy five times as a skipper. Kohli, meanwhile, failed to win the IPL trophy even once, having captained Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 143 games.
MS Dhoni Led CSK and RPSG in 235 Games
MS Dhoni is arguably the greatest captain in the history of the Indian Premier League. The wicketkeeper batter has captained the most games in the league. He has led Chennai Super Kings to five IPL titles. Among his 235 games, Dhoni's team has been on the winning side on 136 occasions.
Rohit Sharma Ranks Second With 158 Matches As Captain
Rohit Sharma, along with MS Dhoni, is the most successful captain in the history of the IPL with five titles to his name while leading his team. The former MI skipper led them in 158 games, winning 87 of them with a win/loss ratio of 1.29.
Virat Kohli Ranks Third Having Led RCB In 143 Games
Virat Kohli, in spite of never winning an IPL trophy has led the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 143 games. He led them to victory in 66 of those games, boasting a measly win/loss ratio of 0.94
Gautam Gambhir Ranks 4th With 129 Matches As Captain Of KKR And DC
Gautam Gambhir is only the third captain, along with Dhoni and Rohit, to have won multiple IPL titles. He achieved this feat in 2012 and 2014, leading Kolkata Knight Riders to their first two trophies. In 129 games, Gambhir captained he was on the winning side on 71 occasions.
Shreyas Iyer Makes The Top Five With 87 Games As Captain
Shreyas Iyer has led three teams in 87 matches in his IPL career so far. He is the only captain to have led three different teams to the final of the tournament. He led the Delhi Capitals and the Punjab Kings to the finals in 2020 and 2025, respectively. With Kolkata Knight Riders, he won the title in 2024.
David Warner Ranks Sixth With 83 Matches As Captain In IPL
David Warner having captained in 83 IPL matches holds the record for most games as an overseas captain in the league. The left-handed led Sunrisers Hyderabad to IPL glory in 2016.
Adam Gilchrist Captained In 74 IPL Games
Adam Gilchrist follows fellow Aussie, David Warner on the list. Gilchrist captained Deccan Chargers and Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in 74 matches in the IPL. He led the Chargers to winning the title in 2009.
Sanju Samson Ranks Eighth With 67 Games As RR Captain In IPL
Sanju Samson captained the Rajasthan Royals in 67 games in the Indian Premier League. The wicketkeeper batter has now moved to Chennai Super Kings where he will be playing under Ruturaj Gaikwad's captaincy in IPL 2026.
KL Rahul Is 9th With 64 IPL Matches As Captain
KL Rahul has led two teams in the Indian Premier League. However, Rahul has not had much success as captain in the IPL. He has won 31 of 64 games in which he was the captain of his side.
Hardik Pandya With 60 IPL Games As Captain Closes Out The List
Hardik Pandya, in spite of captaining in only 60 IPL games has a great record. He won an IPL title in his first season at the Gujarat Titans. Pandya, with 35 wins as the captain, boasts a win/loss ratio of 1.4. Only Dhoni matches his ratio among the players currently in the list.
