Mumbai : For the first time in the 19-year history of the Indian Premier League, all 10 teams will be led by Indian captains. The development comes after Pat Cummins was ruled out of the opening matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad, with the franchise handing over captaincy duties to Ishan Kishan.
This means that in the initial phase of the tournament, every team will be captained by an Indian player. Even last season, all teams except Hyderabad—led by Cummins—had Indian captains.
Kishan will be leading an IPL side for the first time. Among the current 10 captains, six are still chasing their maiden title, including Ruturaj Gaikwad, Riyan Parag, Shubman Gill, Ajinkya Rahane, Kishan and Rishabh Pant.
The remaining four captains have already lifted the IPL trophy. Shreyas Iyer led Kolkata Knight Riders to the title in 2024, Rajat Patidar captained Royal Challengers Bangalore to victory in 2025, while Hardik Pandya guided Gujarat Titans to the championship in 2022.
Notably, Iyer remains the only captain in IPL history to have led three different franchises to the final. He took Delhi Capitals to the 2020 final, won the title with Kolkata in 2024, and guided Punjab Kings to the 2025 final, where they finished runners-up.