Captaincy comes with the heavy baggage of pressure and expectations. Thus, a few captains find the right balance in leading their team while not affecting their personal game.
In the high-stakes IPL, some notable captains have prevailed in pressing situations, scoring big knocks. A handful of them have made the habit of smashing fifties and centuries, setting an example for their team.
On that note, let’s look at the top 10 captains with the most 50+ scores in the IPL.
Most 50+ Scores as Captain in IPL
| Player | Innings | 100 | 50 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli | 142 | 5 | 37 | 42 |
| David Warner | 83 | 1 | 32 | 33 |
| Gautam Gambhir | 127 | 0 | 31 | 31 |
| Rohit Sharma | 157 | 0 | 25 | 25 |
| KL Rahul | 64 | 3 | 21 | 24 |
| MS Dhoni | 196 | 0 | 22 | 22 |
| Faf du Plessis | 42 | 0 | 13 | 13 |
| Sanju Samson | 60 | 1 | 12 | 13 |
| Shreyas Iyer | 69 | 0 | 13 | 13 |
| Adam Gilchrist | 74 | 1 | 11 | 12 |
Key Insights
Virat Kohli has notched up the most 50+ scores as a captain in IPL history. The former RCB captain scored 37 fifties and 5 hundreds, totalling 42 50+ knocks.
Kohli’s 5 centuries are also the most by a skipper in the league. 4 of them came in 2016, which is the joint-most hundreds in a single IPL season.
During the 2016 season, the right-hander brought up 11 50+ scores, making it the most in a single edition. Kohli is the only captain with 10 or more 50+ knocks in a single IPL season.
Virat Kohli also leads the run charts among the skippers, with 4994 runs in 142 innings under his belt for RCB.
KL Rahul is the only batter to score centuries for 2 different IPL teams as a skipper. He scored 132 not out for Punjab in 2020 and 103 not out twice for Lucknow in 2022.
13 players have smashed 10 or more 50+ scores as captains in the IPL.
