IPL 2025: Ranking the top 10 captains ahead of the season

With just over a week to go for the 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) action fans are waiting with bated breath for the campaign to begin. On Friday, Axar Patel was named as the new skipper of Delhi Capitals. The 2020 IPL finalists had taken time to name their skipper after KL Rahul declined the job of leading the side. 

It is to be noted that Australian skipper Pat Cummins is the only overseas captain in the tournament. The 31-year-old was instrumental in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s run to the finals that saw them lose to Kolkata Knight Riders in the title clash. Ajinkya Rahane will lead KKR in the coming season after his amazing leadership for Mumbai in domestic tournament. 

Other first-time captain is Rajat Patidar who will succeeded Faf Du Plessis in Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Patidar, will be leading a side for the first time and has been spoken about highly by the RCB team management. With the house in order, nine teams will look to dislodge KKR from the top and attempt to win the title. 

Here are the top ten captains in IPL 2025

10- Rajat Patidar (RCB) 

31-year-old Rajat Patidar has been handed the toughest job in IPL history after beiung named the new RCB skipper. The right-handed batter has to make sure that Bengaluru can put up a strong show and end their 17-year wait for an IPL title. Patidar recently led Madhya Pradesh to the Syed Mushtaq Ali finals and lost to Mumbai. The batter led from the front scoring 81 runs in the finals in front of his home fans in Bengaluru. 

9- Shubman Gill (GT)

India’s ODI vice-captain Shubman Gill was handed the captaincy by Gujarat Titans after Hardik Pandya’s move to Mumbai Indians. Gill, though didn’t have a great first season but there were enough moments to show that he grew on the job. The 25-year-old then led India to 4-1 series win in Zimbabwe to better his captaincy credentials. With experience under his belt, Shubman Gill is more than likely to give a better account as a captain in the coming season. 

8- Ruturaj Gaikwad (CSK) 

Chennai Super Kings legend MS Dhoni stepped down as the captain ahead of the last season. Then defending champions appointed Ruturaj Gaikwad as the new skipper in what a surprising move. The 28-year-old didn’t have a great start to life as CSK skipper as his team were knocked out before the playoff stages. Chennai also suffered the most losses at home in a season under Gaikwad’s captaincy. 

7- Axar Patel (DC)

31-year-old Axar Patel takes over the captaincy reins from Rishabh Pant who has moved to Lucknow. Axar is already the vice-captain for the national side in the T20I format and also has led in the domestic circuit. Axar, has always been looked at a future captaincy candidate by the team and his elevation to the top job proves that. 

6- Ajinkya Rahane (KKR)

With Shreyas Iyer moving to Punjab Kings, defending champions KKR needed a new captain. Veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane stepped up to the plate with his immense leadership skills for both India and in the domestic circuit. Rahane, led India to 2-1 series against Australia in 2020/21 BGT series. He also led Mumbai to the title win in Ranji Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy recently. 

5- Rishabh Pant (LSG)

Indian wicketkeeper and batter Rishabh Pant became the costliest player in IPL history when Lucknow Super Giants got him for INR 27 Crores. Pant comes to Lucknow on the back of his captaincy experience with Delhi Capitals. The youngster led the side well in patches last year but wasn’t able to take them to the playoffs despite a mid-season form revival. 

4- Sanju Samson (RR)

After year’s of struggle and bad performance, Rajasthan Royals have yet again become huge contenders for the title. Sanju Samson has led the side well and they have made the playoffs on many occasions and also reached the finals in 2022. The addition of Rahul Dravid as the coach will help Samson take his team forward and hopefully end their wait for the second IPL title. 

3- Pat Cummins (SRH)

Australia’s ODI World Cup and WTC winning skipper Pat Cummins was a key figure for Hyderabad last year. The 31-year-old was key with the ball and also did well with the bat as he made his side one of the most dangerous team’s in the competition. The batting of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma as well as the emergence of Nitish Reddy was a huge bonus. This year Cummins will eye the title after coming a step closer last season. 

2- Shreyas Iyer (PBKS)

Former KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer was named the new Punjab Kings captain in a reality show recently. The 30-year-old has a good record as an IPL captain having led Delhi to the finals in 2020 and winning the title with KKR last year. Punjab purchased Iyer for 26.75 Crores and will be eyeing their first ever IPL title. Ricky Ponting who has already worked with Iyer in the past will hope to find the magic once more and make PBKS the title winners. 

1- Hardik Pandya (MI)

Despite his bad start to life as captain of Mumbai Indians on and off the field, Hardik Pandya is a proven match winner. On the leadership front, Pandya was the captain of GT when they won the title and reached the finals in 2023. The 31-year-old is coming into the season on the high of winning the T20 World Cup 2024 and Champions Trophy 2025. Pandya will hope to do the same and help MI win their sixth title in the coming season.