hero-image

5 IPL teams with the most number of captains

Two of RCB’s many captains

Cricket is one of those sports where the captain is asked to do everything from team selection to calling the toss to and most recently, challenging on-field decisions. The advent and rise of T20 cricket had made the job only harder where one wrong call by the captain has the potential to change the entire course of the game.  

Also read: 5 players who played for and later coached the same IPL team

Here, we look at the top five IPL teams who have switched their captains the most number of times in order to find that elusive winning combination and inspiring leadership.


#5 Royal Challengers Bangalore – 5 captains

RCB started their journey with Rahul Dravid as their captain and icon player. Their first year was disastrous as they struggled to find a winning formula, experimenting with as many as 11 different opening combinations. They were eliminated during the league stage.

The failure ensured that they made some bold decisions in the 2009 season. They bought their new captain, Kevin Pietersen at a hefty price of $1.55m. The team continued to lose under him before he had to leave for national duty.

It was then that Anil Kumble took over the reins. He bowled economically and led from the front for the rest of the season. There was a dramatic turn of events since he took over and RCB finished as runners-up. He continued to lead the team in the 2010 season in both the IPL and the CLT20 before announcing his retirement.

After he retired, Daniel Vettori took up captaincy duties for the next two seasons, before moving on to coaching since the 2014 season. He was succeeded by a promising Virat Kohli in 2013.

Over the next few years, Kohli was instrumental in building a stronger RCB, assisted by a fearsome batting line-up consisting of himself, Gayle and de Villiers. The Bangalore outfit finished as runners-up in the 2016 edition and in October, Kohli announced that RCB would be his permanent IPL franchise.

With the Indian skipper at the helm, it is difficult to imagine another captain for the franchise for the next few years.

You may also like