The 13th season of the IPL has started and we have seen a lot of action in the first six games. The first couple of games were low scoring and then we saw some fireworks from the likes of Sanju Samson, Rohit Sharma, and KL Rahul. Fast bowlers are having a mixed bag as some of them are enjoying the conditions while others are getting hammered.
We even saw the first IPL century in this tournament and we hope to see many more in this year’s IPL. A century in a T20 game is always a great achievement and if you are the captain of your team then it increases the value of the century. As a captain, you want to lead from the front and you can set a great example for your teammates by hitting a century. So, let’s have a look at six captains to score an IPL century.
6. Virender Sehwag – Delhi Daredevils
Virender Sehwag hit his first IPL century way back in 2011 when he was leading Delhi Daredevils. DD was playing the DC team of that time i.e. Deccan Chargers. Deccan batted first and scored 175/5 in their twenty overs.
Chasing 176, Virender Sehwag was on fire as he scored 119 off just 56 balls with 13 fours and 6 sixes to his name. He took all the DC part-timers apart and hit them to all the parts of the park. Delhi Daredevils won that game with four wickets in hand and one over to spare.
5. Adam Gilchrist – Kings XI Punjab
After a successful stint with Deccan Chargers, Adam Gilchrist was leading Kings XI Punjab. In 2011, they were up against RCB at Dharamshala. KXIP was batting first and they lost an early wicket of Paul Valthaty. Shaun Marsh joined Adam Gilchrist in the middle and both of them put together a partnership of 206 runs.
The Australian wicket-keeper batsman led from the front and went to score 106 off just 55 balls with eight fours and nine sixes to his name. KXIP scored a mammoth 232/2 in their 20 overs and won the game by 111 runs.
4. David Warner – Sunrisers Hyderabad
David Warner is a player who is always ready to lead from the front. He has scored heavily in the IPL for SRH and especially when he has captained the side. He has four IPL centuries to his name but only one of them is while captaining the side.
In 2017, SRH was playing against KKR at Eden Gardens and David Warner was right on the money from ball one as he smashed 126 off just 59 balls with ten fours and eight sixes to his name. SRH won that game by 48 runs. Warner is a run machine in the IPL and we might see him scoring a century in this IPL as well.
3. Sachin Tendulkar – Mumbai Indians
Sachin Tendulkar and centuries go hand in hand. Even in his short IPL career, Tendulkar has managed to score an IPL century that too while captaining the side.
In 2011, Mumbai Indians were up against the Kochi Tuskers Kerala at Cuttack. MI batted first and Tendulkar opened the batting and scored heavily. He was in the 90s when Vinay Kumar was bowling the last over. Kumar bowled a no-ball which allowed Tendulkar to complete his century or else he couldn’t have reached the 100-run mark. He scored 100 off 66 balls in that game but unfortunately, MI lost that game by eight wickets.
2. Virat Kohli – Royal Challengers Bangalore
Everybody might be aware of the record-breaking season which Virat Kohli had in 2016. While captaining RCB, Kohli didn’t only score 973 runs but he even smashed not one, not two but a total of four centuries in one season. If that was not enough, he has one more century as a captain which he scored in 2019 against KKR.
Kohli has always been a man who loves to lead from the front and that’s exactly what he did in 2016 when he hit those four centuries. He hasn’t fired in the first two games and he will be itching to make an impact in the next game.
1. KL Rahul – Kings XI Punjab
KL Rahul is the latest entrant in this list as he demolished the RCB bowling attack last night at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai. He scored 132 off 69 balls with 13 fours and seven sixes to his name. On his way to a century, he also became the fastest Indian to reach 2000 IPL runs. Not only that but he also hit the most runs by an Indian in an innings.
KXIP had lost their first game and they needed to win this one and Rahul decided to lead from the front. As a result, KXIP won the game by 97 runs. KL Rahul showed that his batting won’t get affected by the additional duties of being the captain.
