Indian players who won IPL as captains

Leading a team in the Indian Premier League can be a daunting task as it involves players from various countries and different cultural backgrounds. Moreover, to gel, as team players often get just about a week or so before the start of the tournament.

In such a scenario, the role of the captain becomes all the more important as he has to make sure that he understands the strengths and weaknesses of every player in the squad. Also, he has to understand the skill set of every player which is not easy as some players are picked from domestic competitions of various countries.

Over the years many Indian players have got the opportunity to lead their respective teams in IPL, but only 3 have been successful in winning the title for their franchise.

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#1 Rohit Sharma (2013, 2015 and 2017)

Rohit Sharma showed his leadership skills via IPL

Recently Rohit Sharma led India to Asia Cup title, to his credit Sharma did a fairly good job both tactically on the field and in team selection.

Impressed with his leadership some people went on to say that he should be the regular Indian captain in ODI's. As far as his leadership stint is concerned it all started with the IPL.

Rohit Sharma got the opportunity to display his credentials as a captain when Mumbai Indians appointed him as the captain during the 2013 season after Ricky Ponting was dropped from the team due to lack of form.

Sharma impressed all and sundry with his leadership skills and under his leadership, Mumbai Indians have won 3 titles so far, in 2013, 2015 and 2017.

#2 MS Dhoni (2010, 2011 and 2018)

Dhoni has won everything there is to win as a captain

A man who has won an ODI World Cup, a T20 World Cup, and a Champions Trophy as a captain was definitely not going to miss out on this domestic tournament. One unique thing about Dhoni as a captain is the way he uses his spinners and he has an amazing record as a captain in the IPL as well.

MS Dhoni was the obvious choice to lead Chennai Super Kings when they started their IPL chapter in 2008. He has led them with a lot of conviction and success to date.

He led them from 2008 to 2015 after which they were suspended from IPL for two years and was instrumental in CSK winning the tournament while making a comeback to the tournament in 2018.

In total, CSK has won three titles so far (2010, 2011 and 2018) all under Dhoni's leadership.

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#3 Gautam Gambhir (2012 and 2014)

Gautam Gambhir was one of the most aggressive captains

It won't be an exaggeration to say that Gambhir could have been a great captain for India. Though he never got an opportunity to be a permanent Indian captain he had a successful stint as an IPL team captain.

One of the most astute captains IPL has seen during its history, Gautam Gambhir is one of those players who had the potential to be a great captain for his country. Gambhir led Kolkata Knight Riders for 7 seasons from 2011 to 2017 and proved his leadership credentials by leading the Knight Riders to 2 titles in 2012 and 2014.