IPL 2019: Who among Dhoni, Kohli and Rohit will emerge as the most successful captain this year?

Rohit Sharma

2. Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma surprised everyone when he led Mumbai Indians to their first IPL title in 2013. He hasn’t looked back since then, and has matched Dhoni by winning 3 IPL trophies.

Rohit remains calm and composed and backs youngsters in crucial situations. He has led MI to victory in 51 out of 89 matches till now, at an excellent winning percentage of 57.9.

As a result of Rohit's faith in youngsters, MI unleash an uncapped player as a surprise package every season - and many of those have become permanent members of Team India. Rohit is also their batting mainstay, and is expected to open the innings in this edition of the IPL.

Can Rohit emerge as the most successful captain in IPL history in this edition? We have to wait and watch.

3. Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli was appointed as the full-time captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2013 edition of the IPL. He has led his franchise to victory in 44 of the 96 matches he has captained, at a winning percentage of 48.4.

RCB were the runners-up in IPL 2016 under the captaincy of Kohli.

Can Kohli take RCB home this time?

The team has struggled to build a balanced squad over the years, and has been guilty of relying too heavily on Kohli, Ab de Villiers and Chris Gayle. The Bangalore-based franchise have experimented quite a lot in their middle order and fast bowling departments, but the results have been disappointing.

The IPL 2019 auction witnessed a shift in RCB’s strategy in team selection, as they bought many young Indian players such as Shivam Dube, Himmat Singh and Paras Barman. The onus is on captain Kohli to back these youngsters and inspire them to perform against strong oppositions.

Kohli has matured as a captain over the years, and has been quite successful for Team India across all formats. But questions remain over his tendency to change the playing XI far too often, and not backing his players for long.

RCB fans will be hoping to see the much-loved team winning the IPL this season. But for that, Kohli will have to upstage Dhoni's and Rohit's captaincy - which is no mean feat.