All the ten franchises of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 were able to acquire their favorite players in the recently concluded mega auction.
As cricket fans are excited for IPL 2025, the entire focus shifts towards the captains who can lead their teams in the ups and downs moments of the tournament.
The five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) continue with their previous year’s skipper. Similarly, the teams with a single IPL championship title such as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Rajasthan Royals (RR), and Gujarat Titans (GT) have retained their captains.
The defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Shreyas Iyer has parted ways with the franchise. Likewise, other teams such as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Delhi Capitals (DC), and Punjab Kings (PBKS) will have a new captain in the forthcoming season.
Overall, five franchises continue with the services of the same captain who led the team in the previous season, and the remaining five with a new captain.
Let’s take a closer look at the existing captains as well as find out the potential candidates to emerge as the new skippers for the upcoming IPL 2025 season.
1. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH): Pat Cummins
The 2023 World Cup-winning captain Pat Cummins was acquired by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL 2024 mini-auction. Under the captaincy of the Aussie pacer, SRH ranked at the second position in the points table and concluded as the runner-up of the 17th season.
However, Cummins promoted a new trend of accumulating 250-plus total in a T20 inning without difficulty by encouraging the batters to play with an aggressive approach and shattered several records by marking a new phase for T20 cricket.
Despite losing to KKR in the IPL 2024 final, the franchise would still prefer Pat to lead SRH in the next season as well.
2. Chennai Super Kings (CSK): Ruturaj Gaikwad
The former Indian captain MS Dhoni passed the captaincy role to Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of the commencement of the IPL 2024 season. However, the yellow Army losing their last game of the league stages to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), restricted their qualification into playoffs by falling short with an inferior net run rate.
However, CSK with a stronger squad than the previous season motivates Gaikwad to improve his leadership skills in the next season under Dhoni’s guidance.
3. Rajasthan Royals (RR): Sanju Samson
Under Sanju Samson’s captaincy, Rajasthan Royals were in a dominating lead in the first half of the IPL 2024 season, but a streak of losses in the remaining half pushed their rankings to the third position in the points table. However, the team managed to qualify for playoffs but failed to gain their entry in the finals after losing to SRH in the Qualifier 2 round.
But, Samson’s ascending career in T20 Internationals (T20Is) could have a positive impact on his decision-making skills as well, which revives the hopes for the franchise to win their second championship title in the next edition under his leadership.
4. Gujarat Titans (GT): Shubman Gill
In contrast to the expectations, Shubman Gill wasn’t able to replicate the success rate for the franchise attained under former captain Hardik Pandya.
Even after finishing in the eighth position in the previous season’s points table, the franchise has decided to give another chance to the 25-year-old batsman as he has become an experienced and mature captain. Moreover, GT has bolstered its squad in the mega auction that allows Gill to learn from his mistakes and lead his team to the playoffs in the IPL 2025 season.
5. Mumbai Indians (MI): Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya’s homecoming season for Mumbai Indians (MI) turned out to be a flop show due to his inability to repeat his success as GT captain. The blue army under his captaincy concluded at the bottom position in the points table by securing just 4 wins.
However, Hardik under pressure still has another chance to prove his leadership skills in the next season as the franchise might even prefer replacing Suryakumar Yadav based on his success rate as India’s T20I captain.
6. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): To Be Declared
The three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) acquired Venkatesh Iyer for INR 23.75 crore making him the eligible candidate to become the team’s next skipper.
7. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB): To Be Declared
Having released their three-year skipper Faf du Plessis ahead of the mega auction, there are possibilities for Virat Kohli to return as RCB captain for the next season.
8. Punjab Kings (PBKS): To Be Declared
Securing the services of Shreyas Iyer for INR 26.75 crore makes him a promising candidate as the new skipper for Punjab Kings to claim their first IPL title. His leadership skills played a pivotal role in KKR’s dominating victory in IPL 2024.
9. Delhi Capitals (DC): To Be Declared
The Indian wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul is a strong contender to become the next captain of Delhi Capitals having signed a hefty deal for INR 14 crore. His previous stint as LSG’s captain reignites the franchise’s hopes to win its first IPL trophy.
10. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG): To Be Declared
Rishabh Pant becoming the most expensive player in IPL history with a price tag of INR 27 crore could open a new chapter for Lucknow Super Giants. Overall, it is expected that the entire team is expected to play with a fearless approach under his captaincy.
