Some of the best aggressive captains in Indian cricket history have come from the IPL. As of now, 58 players have served as captains for one or more IPL teams. The majority of them are capable batters. Here is the list of the top 10 players with the most runs as captains in IPL history.
| Captains | Matches | Runs as Captain | H/S | Avg. | S/R | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli | 140 | 4881 | 113 | 42.07 | 133.32 | 5 | 35 | 413 | 167 | 2011-2021 |
| MS Dhoni | 210 | 4556 | 84* | 40.31 | 136.69 | 0 | 22 | 317 | 208 | 2008-2022 |
| Rohit Sharma | 143 | 3674 | 98* | 28.92 | 129.18 | 0 | 23 | 338 | 143 | 2013-2022 |
| Gautam Gambhir | 129 | 3518 | 93 | 31.13 | 122.79 | 0 | 31 | 406 | 49 | 2009-2018 |
| David Warner | 69 | 2840 | 126 | 47.33 | 142.28 | 1 | 26 | 286 | 99 | 2013-2021 |
| KL Rahul | 42 | 1912 | 132* | 56.23 | 134.26 | 3 | 15 | 151 | 83 | 2020-2022 |
| Adam Gilchrist | 74 | 1900 | 106 | 26.76 | 136.59 | 1 | 11 | 224 | 79 | 2008-2013 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 51 | 1723 | 100* | 40.06 | 120.15 | 1 | 10 | 218 | 20 | 2008-2011 |
| Shreyas Iyer | 55 | 1643 | 93* | 32.86 | 125.9 | 0 | 11 | 138 | 56 | 2018-2022 |
| Virender Sehwag | 53 | 1524 | 119 | 31.1 | 167.65 | 1 | 11 | 178 | 65 | 2008-2015 |
1. Virat Kohli
Since the start of his IPL career, Virat Kohli has only captained one team i.e Royal Challengers Bangalore. Under his captaincy, RCB never won an IPL trophy.
- Virat Kohli has scored the most runs as a captain, he has scored 4881 runs in 140 IPL matches.
- With an excellent average of 58, he has scored 2629 runs in 64 won matches for RCB.
- Kohli has the most centuries 05 in the IPL matches as a captain. Out of the total of 05 matches, RCB won four of them, while the remaining one was lost.
- He holds the record for most runs in a single season of IPL. In 2016, he scored 973 runs with at an excellent average of 81.
2. MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni is the most experienced captain in IPL history. He captained the Chennai Super Kings and the Rising Pune Super Giants in 204 IPL games.
- He has scored 4570 runs as a captain. For CSK, he scored 4172 runs and for the Rising Pune Super Giants, he scored 284 runs.
- He was not out in 69 IPL innings as captain, which is an unbroken record. This shows that he is a tremendous finisher in the history of the IPL.
3. Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir Captained 02 IPL teams Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Rider. He captained KKR in 108 matches and DD in 21 matches.
- He scored 3518 runs as a captain. For KKR, he scored 3025 runs and for DD, he scored 483 runs.
- As a captain, Gautam Gambhir holds the record for most 50s scored in won matches. As a captain, he led his side to victory with 23 fifties.
- He has one bad record as a captain, namely, scoring the most ducks. He had a total of ten ducks as a captain, which is the most by any captain in the IPL’s history.
4. Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma has led the Mumbai Indians in 131* IPL games. With a total of 05 titles, he is the most successful skipper in IPL history.
- He scored 3520 with an average of 30. He is the only IPL captain to score two fifty in the tournament’s final match.
- After MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma is the second IPL captain to play in the most IPL Finals, with a total of 05.
5. David Warner
In the IPL, David Warner has the most runs scored by an overseas captain. He led the Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League.
- In total 69* games as captain, he scored 2840 runs. He scored 2792 runs with a 48 average for SRH and only 48 runs in two matches for DD.
- As a captain, he has the highest average of 47, second only to KL Rahul.
- He had an impressive batting average of 63 for SRH as a captain in won matches.
6. Adam Gilchrist
Adam Gilchrist captained the Deccan Charges and Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League. He is the second-highest run scorer in the IPL after MS Dhoni, with 1900 runs as a Wicket-Keeper.
- As a captain, he has scored a total of 1900 runs, 849 for Punjab Kings and 1051 for Deccan Charges.
- After KL Rahul and Sanju Samson, Adam Gilchrist is the only regular Wicket-Keeper captain to score a century in the IPL.
7. Sachin Tendulkar
From 2008 to 2011, Sachin Tendulkar was the first captain of the Mumbai Indians. Sachin’s batting average as captain was 40 at the time. Virat Kohli later broke the mark, as did other hitters.
- As a captain, Sachin scored 1723 runs for Mumbai Indias.
- Sachin scored 1080 runs with an average of 46 in his winning matches as captain.
8. Virender Sehwag
Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab were led by Virender Sehwag. Among captains who have led their teams in more than 50 IPL matches, he has the highest batting strike rate (167).
- As a captain, he has scored 1524 runs with a batting average of 31.
- After KL Rahul and David Warner, he has the highest individual score as a captain 119.
- As a captain, he scored 73% of his runs in winning games for his team.
9. KL Rahul
KL Rahul captained 03 IPL teams Kings XI Punjab, Lucknow SuperGiants and Punjab Kings. Although he has only played 30* innings as captain, his performance has been outstanding. He has the highest average of 56 as a captain in IPL.
- As a captain, he has scored 1404 runs. For Punjab Kings he scored 1296 runs with an outstanding average of 58.
- He also holds the record for the highest individual score in of 132* on 69 balls as a captain. In IPL 2020, he set this record against RCB.
10. Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer captained 03 IPL teams Delhi Daredevils, Delhi Capitals, and Kolkata Knight Riders. Approximately 59% of his total runs came in winning matches for his team.
- As a captain, he scored 1311 runs in 45* IPL Matches.
- He scored 08 fifties as a captain.
