The Indian Premier League is the biggest T20 tournament in the world and winning the IPL trophy is one of the dreams of every player that participates in the competition. Some of the greatest names in cricket history have been a part of this tournament, but not everyone can call themselves IPL champions.
In the last 15 years, very few players have managed to take the IPL trophy home as the captain of a franchise. While some star players failed to win the title even once despite captaining in multiple seasons, the following three players managed to win their maiden IPL title in less than 25 matches as a captain in the league.
3. Adam Gilchrist – 24 matches to win IPL trophy
Former Australian cricket team captain Adam Gilchrist was the second player to win the Indian Premier League as the skipper. He led the Deccan Chargers from the eighth position to their maiden title in the 2009 edition of the IPL. The IPL 2009 Final between the Deccan Chargers and the Royal Challengers Bangalore was Gilchrist’s 24th game as IPL captain.
2. Shane Warne – 15
Shane Warne was the first captain to win the IPL as captain. Captaining the Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural season, Warne led the Jaipur-based franchise to their maiden trophy. The IPL 2008 match was Warne’s 15th game, where RR defeated Chennai Super Kings to win the trophy.
1. Rohit Sharma – 13 matches to win IPL trophy
Number of matches taken as a Captain to Win an IPL Trophy
13 – Rohit Sharma
15 – Shane Warne
24 – Adam Gilchrist
33 – David Warner
43 – MS Dhoni
47 – Gautam Gambhir#HappyBirthdayRohit ๐ pic.twitter.com/csiCdaVf5bAdvertisement— ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ (@Shebas_10dulkar) April 29, 2022
Ricky Ponting was the captain of the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2013, but he handed over the reins of the team to Rohit Sharma midway. The Hitman made his captaincy debut for the Mumbai Indians team in that season and then led the franchise to their maiden IPL trophy. Since he took over the captaincy midway, he took two matches lesser than Shane Warne for his first trophy. To date, it is a record for the fastest captain to win the title in terms of lowest number of IPL games played.
