5 Players With Most Matches As Captain In IPL History

Rohit Sharma (L) and MS Dhoni (R) (Source: AFP) 

There are very few players in IPL who featured in the tournament’s inaugural edition in 2008 and are also set to be in action in the upcoming 2026 edition. Apart from this, there are only four players who have played more than 100 matches as captain in the league’s almost 19-year-long journey across 18 seasons. 

Therefore, in this article, we’ll have a look at the 5 players with most matches as captain in IPL history. The list includes both the former players and captains, alongside the currently active skippers. 

5 Players with most matches as captain in IPL history 

MS Dhoni - 235 Matches 

Former CSK skipper and the legendary wicketkeeper-batter, MS Dhoni, has the record of playing the highest number of matches as captain in the tournament’s history. Dhoni has captained 235 games for two franchises, CSK and Rising Pune Supergiants, in his IPL career. 

In these games, he registered 136 wins and 97 defeats, the most of any captain in the tournament. Besides that, Dhoni is one of the most successful captains in the league’s history. He also ranks second in the list of the leading run-scorers as captain in the IPL. 

Rohit Sharma - 158 Matches 

Former Mumbai Indians skipper and one of the modern-day batting greats, Rohit Sharma, is also placed in the list of the most successful captains in the IPL history. 

Speaking of T20 titles, he has eight trophies to his name as captain, including five IPL trophies with MI, the T20 World Cup for India, the Asia Cup for India, and a Champions League title for MI. 

With 158 IPL games as captain, Rohit is placed second in the list of the players who have played the most matches as captain in the tournament since 2008. He also ranks third among the leading run-scorers as captain in the league's history. 

Virat Kohli - 143 Matches 

Former RCB skipper and IPL-winning batter Virat Kohli is the only player in the tournament’s history to have played for a single franchise throughout his entire IPL career. After playing as a player in the first three editions from 2008 to 2010, Kohli was appointed as captain of the side in 2011. 

From 2011 to 2023, Kohli led RCB in 143 games, during which the team registered 66 wins, 70 losses, alongside three tied games and four no-result matches. With 143 games as captain, Kohli is placed third in the list of the five players with the most matches as captain. 

Gautam Gambhir - 129 Matches 

KKR’s former two-time IPL champion skipper, Gautam Gambhir, also led the Delhi Capitals in 21 games out of 129 games as captain. In these 129 games as skipper, Gambhir ended up on the winning side on 71 occasions, alongside facing 57 defeats and a tied game. 

Gambhir is fourth in the list of players with the most matches as captain in the history of IPL. Besides that, he is in the same spot on the list of the leading run-scorers in IPL history, with 3518 runs in 127 innings at an average of 31.13 , hitting 31 half-centuries. 

Shreyas Iyer - 87 Matches

In his almost 12-year IPL career, the Indian batter Shreyas Iyer was appointed skipper of the Delhi Capitals in 2018. For DC, Iyer played as captain in 41 games till the 2020 edition, in which his side qualified for the final and ended as the runners-up. 

Furthermore, he was appointed as KKR skipper in 2022 and guided them to the title in 2024 before ending his stint with 29 games as captain. Last year in IPL 2025, Iyer led Punjab Kings in 17 games and played a central role in Punjab’s journey to the tournament’s final. 

With his amazing leadership abilities, Iyer remains the only captain in the IPL history to lead three different franchise teams to the tournament’s final in three different editions. Besides that, Iyer ranks fifth in the list of players with the most matches as captain in the tournament’s history.