The Indian Premier League (IPL) has seen a mix of the young and the old when it comes to captaincy. Numerous veterans have been given the task of trying to use their experience to guide the rest while some novice youngsters have also been thrown in the deep end — both giving mixed results. But amid all the shuffling and chaos there has been one constant — Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma too have been leading their teams for a quite a while now and along with Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir are the only players to have played over 100 matches as captains.

MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings):

Captain Cool has led Chennai Super Kings and Rising Pune Supergiants and while one has been a fairy-tale, the other not so much. Dhoni has played 174 matches as captain — the most in the history of IPL. He has 104 wins as captain, 69 losses and one no-result. The current CSK skipper boasts of one the best win percentages at 60.11, which is the highest for anyone who has led their team in 30 or more IPL matches.

Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore):

The current India and RCB skipper has been head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to performance with the bat in hand. However, he has not been able to transfer that success to captaincy. He has captained the Bangalore franchise in 110 matches and has led them to 49 wins while ending up on the losing side on 55 occasions. However, he hasn’t had the rub of the green go his way as captain. He has been part of two tied matches and had four no-results — more than anyone else. Kohli has a win percentage of 47.16.

Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians):

The darling of Mumbai, Rohit Sharma has become what Dhoni is to Chennai. Though he might not top Dhoni in win percentage (58.65), Rohit has led the Mumbai franchise to four title triumphs — the most by anyone in IPL history. He has played 104 matches as captain, leading his team to 60 victories. He has had 42 losses as captain and been part of two tied matches.

Dinesh Karthik (Kolkata Knight Riders):

The wicketkeeper-batsman has led two teams — Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) and the Kolkata Knight Riders. While his time with the Delhi franchise might not have been good, he has impressed in KKR. In total, Karthik has played 36 matches as captain in the IPL, leading his team to 17 victories, losing 18 times with one tied match. His win percentage of 48.61 is not great but not a complete disaster either.

David Warner (SunRisers Hyderabad):

The Australian star has had a difficult few years with the ball-tampering controversy and all that but that seems have had no ill-effect on his batting. He was reinstated as captain by the SunRisers Hyderabad ahead of IPL 2020, replacing Kane Williamson. He led the side between 2015 and 2017, taking them to title triumph in 2016. Warner has led the SRH in 45 matches overall, with 26 wins. He also captained the Delhi Daredevils in two matches, taking his overall tally in IPL to 47 with 26 wins and 21 losses, leaving him with a win percentage of 55.31.

Steve Smith (Rajasthan Royals):

Steve Smith has captained three teams — Pune Warriors, Rajasthan Royals, Rising Pune Supergiant. While Smith missed the 2018 season like Warner, he started the 2019 season, playing under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane. However, the Australian was called in to replace Rahane midway through the season after

Rajasthan won just two of the eight matches. Overall, in the IPL, Smith has played 29 games as captain, with 19 wins, nine losses and a no result. His win percentage of 67.85 is the highest in the league for anyone who has captained over five matches.

Shreyas Iyer (Delhi Capitals):

The stylish right-hander took over as captain of the Delhi Daredevils midway through to the 2018 season after Gautam Gambhir stepped down following a nightmare start. He led the team under the new guise of Delhi Capitals for the entirety of IPL 2019. He has played 24 matches in total as captain with 13 wins, 10 losses and one tied match, making for a win percentage of 56.25.

Promoted

KL Rahul (Kings XI Punjab):

Rahul will be leading an IPL team for the first time this season. He has taken over the captaincy of the Punjab team from Ravichandran Ashwin, who will be playing under Shreyas Iyer in Delhi Capitals in IPL 2020.