Most Successful Captains in IPL History [2025 Updated List]

Most Successful Captains in IPL History [2025 Updated List]. IPL is one of the best leagues in world cricket and its fan following and stardom increasing with each passing day. Over the years 50 cricketers have been named captain in IPL but who is the best captain in IPL of who is the king of IPL when it comes to captaining a side? We will try to figure it out with facts and results of the past 14 seasons in the Indian Premier League.

IPL Winning Captains List

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

Most Successful Captain in IPL

When it comes to winning an IPL title Rohit Sharma seems bit ahead of others. He was appointed Mumbai Indians captain in 2013 and made them IPL winners instantly. Followed it up with 4 more titles in years to come. He had 05 IPL titles under his belt and can be rated as the best captain in IPL history.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is not far behind with 04 titles and he was the best IPL captain for a long time before Rohit takes over. Gautam Gambhir is also amongst the most successful IPL captains with 02 title wins for his team Kolkata Knight Riders.

Other IPL winning captains are Shane Warne who won the inaugural edition in 2008 for Rajasthan Royals followed by a couple of more Australian players Adam Gilchrist and David Warner who won IPL titles in 2009 and 2016 for Deccan Chargers and Sunrisers Hyderabad respectively.

No. of Titles	Captain	Team	Year
5	Rohit Sharma	Mumbai Indians	2013,2015,2017, 2019,2020
4	Mahendra Singh Dhoni	Chennai Super Kings	2010,2011,2018, 2021
2	Gautam Gambhir	Kolkata Knight Riders	2012, 2014
1	Shane Warne	Rajasthan Royals	2008
1	Adam Gilchrist	Deccan Chargers	2009
1	David Warner	Sunrisers Hyderabad	2016

Most Number of Wins in IPL as Captain

MS Dhoni of Chennai Super Kings holds the record of most wins in IPL matches as captain. He won 121 matches in IPL history. Stats prove that he is the most successful captain in IPL when it comes to winning matches.

Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir are at 2nd and 3rd Spot with 75 and 71 wins each in the same number of matches as IPL captain which is 129.

Player	Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	%
MS Dhoni	2008-2021	204	121	82	0	1	59.6
RG Sharma	2013-2021	129	75	50	4	0	59.68
G Gambhir	2009-2018	129	71	57	1	0	55.42
V Kohli	2011-2021	140	64	69	3	4	48.16
AC Gilchrist	2008-2013	74	35	39	0	0	47.29
DA Warner	2013-2021	69	35	32	2	0	52.17

Most Number of Matches in IPL as Captain

MS Dhoni is the eldest captain in IPL history and has been carrying reigns of his side since the start of IPL in 2008. He has captained 2 IPL teams in 204 matches. batter with most runs in Indian Premier League Virat Kohli is at 2nd place as he captains Royal Challengers Bangalore in 140 matches across 10 IPL seasons before leaving the captaincy.

Gautham Gambhir and Rohit Sharma are jointly placed at 3rd place in most matches as IPL captain with 129 matches each.  

Player	Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	%
MS Dhoni	2008-2021	204	121	82	0	1	59.6
V Kohli	2011-2021	140	64	69	3	4	48.16
G Gambhir	2009-2018	129	71	57	1	0	55.42
RG Sharma	2013-2021	129	75	50	4	0	59.68
AC Gilchrist	2008-2013	74	35	39	0	0	47.29
DA Warner	2013-2021	69	35	32	2	0	52.17
SK Warne	2008-2011	55	30	24	1	0	55.45
V Sehwag	2008-2015	53	28	24	1	0	53.77
SR Tendulkar	2008-2011	51	30	21	0	0	58.82
R Dravid	2008-2013	48	22	26	0	0	45.83

Best Captain in IPL – Win %

3 IPL captains are having a winning percentage of 59 throughout their tenure as IPL captains. However, Rohit Sharma is again edged past the MS Dhoni and Steve Smith by a minute margin.

Rohit Sharma is the most successful Indian captain in Indian Premier League history when it comes to the winning % ratio. Followed by Dhoni, Smith, Tendulkar, and Warne in the top 5 list respectively.