IPL 2021 is just two weeks away from now. The preparations for the competition have begun already. All captains would have started planning their combinations. The Chennai Super Kings have started their training camp. Meanwhile, some RCB stars have also kicked off their practice. In a similar way, all other franchises are in action mode before the 14th IPL season.
Fortunately, IPL 2021 will happen in India. However, there will be no home matches this year. The captain’s role will be a bit different and challenging this year. There are some new captains in IPL 2021, while many teams have persisted with their old skippers. Here’s a look at the ranking of each IPL captain based on their win percentage as per ESPN.
8. Sanju Samson will captain for the first time in IPL 2021
Sanju Samson is the new skipper of Rajasthan Royals. RR released Steve Smith after the team finished eighth in IPL 2020. Samson is Smith’s successor. Samson has never played the captain’s role in IPL. So, there is no win percentage available for his captaincy.
Hence, he has been placed at the eighth rank. Nevertheless, wicketkeeper captains have done really well in IPL. So, even Samson can do well. He has much IPL experience under his belt. Also, he has received guidance from Rahul Dravid and Shane Warne in the early phase of his career.
7. Eoin Morgan – 35.71
Among the IPL 2021 Captains who have led before in the tournament, Eoin Morgan has the lowest win percentage. Morgan is a former World Cup-winning captain. But in IPL, his captaincy has not been so great. In seven matches, Morgan’s team KKR won two, lost four, and tied one. His win percentage is thus 35.71.
Last year, Dinesh Karthik handed over KKR’s reins to Morgan. The team could not qualify for the playoffs even after that. Morgan will be the skipper for KKR in IPL 2021. He should try to lead the front. Finalizing the four overseas players can be a huge problem for him.
6. KL Rahul – 42.85
Like Eoin Morgan, KL Rahul captained for the first time in IPL last year. Punjab Kings appointed him as their skipper. Rahul led the side by example and won Orange Cap. Unfortunately, his team could not perform so consistently. They finished sixth in IPL 2020.
Under Rahul’s captaincy, Punjab recorded five wins, two ties, and seven losses in 14 outings. One Super Over in Punjab’s favour. However, the other one end in the opponent’s favour. Rahul will be keen to ensure Punjab’s matches do not go down to the wire. Last year, they suffered a couple of close defeats in IPL.
5. Virat Kohli – 46.69
Virat Kohli is the RCB skipper in IPL 2021. He has been the captain since 2013. Kohli’s team has never become IPL champions. Still, Kohli’s win percentage as captain is quite good. In 125 matches, Kohli’s side has recorded 55 victories.
63 matches ended in RCB’s opponent’s favour. Three matches involving RCB have ended in a tie under Kohli’s leadership. Meanwhile, four matches got abandoned. Hence, Kohli’s overall win percentage is 46.69. The RCB skipper will try to take his team to the championship in IPL 2021.
4. Shreyas Iyer – 53.65
Shreyas Iyer had his best IPL season in 2020. He scored 500+ runs with the willow. Also, his team reached the final for the first time. Iyer had come DC’s captain in 2018. Gautam Gambhir stepped down midway and handed over the captaincy to Iyer.
Delhi’s management has always had faith in Iyer. Even though he failed to score even 50 runs in 2016, they retained him. Now, he is one of the best captains in IPL. His win percentage is 53.65. In 41 Matches, Iyer’s team has registered 21 wins, 18 losses, and two ties.
3. David Warner has best win percentage among overseas IPL 2021 Captaons – 54.76
David Warner is one of the few Australian captains to win IPL. He did it with SRH in 2016. SRH have done well under Warner’s leadership. They have played 63 matches. In those games, 34 ended in SRH’s favour. SRH even lost 28 matches, and one game ended in a tie.
Warner is one of the four IPL 2021 captains to have a win percentage of more than 50. His win percentage is close to 55. A decent performance from SRH this year could further improve his record. Warner missed out on Orange Cap last year. He will try his best to win that in 2021.
2. MS Dhoni – 58.82
MS Dhoni has been CSK’s captain since 2008. Dhoni’s captaincy has been one of the key reasons behind CSK’s incredible success in IPL. CSK qualified for playoffs in the first ten IPL seasons that they participated in. Also, they won three IPL trophies. Last year was not so eventful for CSK.
Still, Dhoni holds second place on this elite list. He has a win percentage of 58.82. CSK and RPS played 188 matches under his leadership. His win-loss record is 110-77. One match got abandoned. Surprisingly, no game of MS Dhoni’s captaincy has ended in a tie.
1. Rohit Sharma has the best win percentage among IPL 2021 captains – 60.34
Rohit Sharma is the only team this year with a win percentage of more than 560. Rohit became the first captain to win four IPL trophies in 2019. He captured his fifth trophy last year. Rohit joined Dhoni in the group of captains to have successfully retained the IPL title.
It will be exciting to see if Rohit can complete a hat-trick in 2021. So far, MI have played 116 games under his leadership. MI have 68 of those, while 44 ended in the other team’s favour. There were four tied games. Interestingly, no match under Rohit’s captaincy has got abandoned.
