We commonly see the term “captains leading from the front” in cricket, and this is true for all the formats of the game. As a skipper of the side, whether their primary role is a batter, bowler, or all-rounder, they have to contribute to the team’s cause more often than not and inspire the team in every possible way.
In the IPL as well, a captain of the side has to play a substantial role, be it taking wickets, scoring runs, or making some sort of impact on the game. If a skipper does these things over a course of time, not only will they be retained in the role for a considerable amount of time, but the team will also greatly benefit from the same.
In this article, we will see the top 10 batters who have scored the most runs as captains in the IPL.
Most Runs as Captain in IPL
| PLAYER | RUNS AS CAPTAIN | INNINGS | STRIKE RATE | HIGH SCORE | 50s/100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli | 4994 | 142 | 133.31 | 113 | 37/5 |
| MS Dhoni | 4753 | 204 | 137.05 | 84* | 22/0 |
| Rohit Sharma | 3986 | 157 | 129.37 | 98* | 25/0 |
| Gautam Gambhir | 3518 | 127 | 122.79 | 93 | 31/0 |
| David Warner | 3356 | 83 | 140.53 | 126 | 32/1 |
| KL Rahul | 2691 | 64 | 131.97 | 132* | 21/3 |
| Shreyas Iyer | 2598 | 86 | 137.53 | 97* | 19/0 |
| Sanju Samson | 2021 | 66 | 145.71 | 119 | 12/1 |
| Adam Gilchrist | 1900 | 74 | 136.59 | 106 | 11/1 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 1723 | 51 | 120.15 | 100* | 10/1 |
Key Insights
Virat Kohli has the most aggregate runs when leading the side, and all of his runs came for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He scored 4994 runs in 142 innings as a skipper in RCB’s colours. (Check out Virat Kohli’s year-wise performance in the league here.)
The only other batter to have amassed more than 4000 runs as skipper is MS Dhoni. Rohit Sharma, who isn’t captaining MI anymore, fell 14 runs short of becoming the third batter to cross the 4000-run milestone.
With 195+ innings, MS Dhoni leads the way with the most batting appearances as a skipper.
Virender Sehwag has the best strike rate among the captains with a minimum of 1000 runs. The opening batter notched up 1524 runs at a strike rate of 167.65 in the 53 matches he led Delhi and Punjab.
On the other hand, Sourav Ganguly’s strike rate of 111.33 is the lowest for a batter with over 1000 runs as a skipper. The left-hander led Pune Warriors and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) across 42 games, scoring 1110 runs.
Virat Kohli (five) and KL Rahul (three) are the only players to have scored more than one century while leading their sides. Rahul Dravid (1304), Sourav Ganguly (1110), Faf du Plessis (1473), and Kane Williamson (1265) join MS Dhoni, Shreyas Iyer, Gautam Gambhir, and Rohit Sharma as the captains not to have scored a single century while leading their sides.
While KL Rahul’s batting average of 48.92 is the best as a skipper of the team, Kohli has the most number of fifty-plus scores (42), followed by Warner (33) and Gambhir (31).
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