The Indian Premier League is all set to begin on March 28, 2026. There will be some familiar faces to lead their respective lineups.
However, IPL 2026 will also feature a new captain, Riyan Parag, who is set to lead the Rajasthan Royals in place of Sanju Samson after the trade to the Chennai Super Kings.
The other remaining teams have retained their captains from the last season. The leadership is one of the crucial factors for the success of the team, and the IPL captains list features some great names in international cricket.
Here is a full list of IPL 2026 captains:
CSK IPL 2026 captain – Ruturaj Gaikwad
Ruturaj Gaikwad has been with the Chennai Super Kings since 2019 and was given the chance to captain the team in IPL 2024.
Team India has secured their Asian Games title in 2023 under Ruturaj’s captaincy. However, his stats are not that good with CSK while leading.
CSK finished fifth on the points table in 2024. Also, in 2025, he captained a few games but was later ruled out of the tournament due to an elbow fracture.
In 2025, CSK was in a very bad situation and finished at the bottom of the table with only four points from 14 matches.
Still, CSK is showing faith in Ruturaj Gaikwad and backing him once again to lead the charge.
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DC IPL 2026 captain – Axar Patel
Axar Patel has been a part of the Delhi capital since 2019 and was given the opportunity to lead the team in 2025. He is one of the successful all-rounders in the IPL.
His crucial batting and bowling abilities led Team India to victory in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 and 2026.
Under his captaincy, Delhi Capitals finished fifth in the standings and missed the playoff spot by a point.
GT IPL 2026 captain – Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill will lead the charge of GT in the IPL 2026. He was given the chance to captain the team in 2024.
However, the team was not able to qualify for the playoffs. In 2025, he led the team to the qualifiers but, unfortunately, was knocked out by the Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator.
KKR IPL captain – Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane is once again ready to lead the three-time title champion Kolkata Knight Riders. He is one of the selected players to have featured in the IPL since its start in 2008.
Under his captaincy, KKR ended the 2025 campaign in 8th spot on the leaderboard. However, he is now set to bounce back harder.
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MI IPL 2026 captain – Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya is all set to lead the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2026. The previous season for the Mumbai Indians was not that good. Pandya’s debut as MI captain in 2024 was very challenging.
Before 2024, Hardik Pandya captained GT in 2022 and led the team to their inaugural title. After that, in 2023, they were runners-up. It shows that he has good records as a captain.
RR IPL 2026 captain – Riyan Parag
Riyan Parag was appointed full-time captain of the Rajasthan Royals as Sanju Samson was traded to the Chennai Super Kings ahead of the IPL 2026 season.
Riyan Parag has been part of the Royals since 2019, and had earlier stepped in as a stand-in skipper for the team’s first three matches in the IPL 2025. The move came with regular captain Sanju Samson recovering from injury.
He led Rajasthan Royals in eight matches during IPL 2025 and won two out of them.
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RCB IPL 2026 captain – Rajat Patidar
Rajat Patidar captained the Royal Challengers Bengaluru for the first time in 2025 and led the team to the historic title victory after 18 years.
Patidar made his debut for RCB in 2021 and was one of the consistent performers for the team.
Under Rajat Patidar’s captaincy, the team won 9 matches out of 13 league matches. Later, they defeated the Punjab Kings in both Qualifier 1 and the finals to gain their first title.
PBKS IPL 2026 – Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer will continue to lead the Punjab Kings in IPL 2026.
Despite guiding Kolkata Knight Riders to the title in 2024, he was released by the team, and he entered the mega auction, where Punjab bought him.
Under his leadership, Punjab Kings went to the final of IPL 2025 but unfortunately lost against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Moreover, Iyer has also helped DC to reach the IPL 2020 finals with head coach Ricky Ponting. He is the only captain in the history of IPL to lead different teams to the tournament final.
LSG IPL 2026 captain – Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant will once again lead Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2026 edition. He was given the chance to captain LSG after the release of KL Rahul ahead of the IPL 2025.
Rishabh Pant is also the most expensive player in IPL history and will look to lead LSG to a great campaign after a disappointing 2025 IPL edition.
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SRH IPL 2026 captain – Pat Cummins
Australian cricketer Pat Cummins will lead the Sunrisers Hyderabad for the third successive season in the Indian Premier League. However, because of his injury in the 2025-26 Ashes, he has not played any matches.
As per reports, Ishan Kishan could lead the team in his place, as his availability is not clear.
Moreover, Ishan Kishan led Jharkhand to their first title as a captain, scoring 517 runs in 10 innings with two centuries and two fifties.