Five Youngest Captains in the History of IPL: Virat Kohli to Rishabh Pant

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has seen a number of young captains over the years, with some players leading their teams to championship titles. While many captains have had decades of experience in the game, there are some who have taken up the mantle at an early age and led their troops to victory.

The following is a list of five of the youngest captains in Indian Premier League history who were given captaincy responsibilities at an early age and were able to display their captaincy skills over various IPL seasons.

List of Youngest Captains of IPL History

As part of their professional careers, some players got the opportunity to lead their teams in the IPL teams of their respective countries in their early days. Most of the time, the cause is either an injury sustained by the regular skipper or a change of plans initiated by the franchise midway through the campaign. The reason behind it may not matter, but these cricketers have joined an elite group for becoming the youngest leaders in the history of the league.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has become a mainstay of cricket in India. It is known for its high-powered teams and players and the competition it provides to viewers. But what many people don’t know is that there have been captains under the age of 25 who have taken charge of their team and led them to success. In this article, we will be looking at some of these young captains and how they have made their mark on IPL history.

We will cover everything from their successes with their respective teams, to how they came into leadership roles at such a young age. The stories behind these captains are sure to fascinate readers as we journey through the history of the IPL and celebrate the achievements of these Youngest Captains in IPL history!

Youngest captain in IPL: Five youngest leaders

Rank	Player(s)	Age on captaincy debut	IPL Team
1	Virat Kohli	22 years, four months, and six days	Royal Challengers Bangalore
2	Steve Smith	22 years, 11 months, and nine days	Rising Pune Supergiants
3	Suresh Raina	23 years & 112 days	Chennai Super Kings
4	Shreyas Iyer	23 years & 141 Days	Delhi Capitals
5	Rishabh Pant	23 years & 144 days	Delhi Capitals

1. Youngest Captain in IPL History: Virat Kohli – 22 years, four months, and six days

Besides his batting skills, he has also helped the country’s cricket to reach new heights. During his teenage years when he was captain of the U19 team in Australia, many cricketing pundits said that he is a future captain. Because of this, even the Royal Challengers Bangalore handed him the charges as early as in 2011.

Kohli captained the team for three games during the 2011 edition when Daniel Vettori was injured. It was under his leadership that the team was able to win two games. At the same time, he also became the youngest captain in the history of the Indian Premier League. Although he wasn’t as successful as a batsman during his first stint with the team as a skipper, there were early signs that he will be the future of the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise.

With this, Virat Kohli became the youngest captain in the history of the IPL. In his debut as captain of RCB, Adil Rashid marshaled his squad to perfection, with the team beating RR by nine wickets in Jaipur that evening.

The record for the youngest IPL captain will be interesting to see if Virat Kohli can break it in the future.

2. Youngest Captain in IPL Steve Smith – 22 years, 11 months, and nine days

During the early phase of his career, Smith had his share of struggles, since he could not wow the Kangaroos with his spin, as he had not yet developed his skills as a premier spinner. After working on his batting skills, he went on to become a professional and has not looked back since. He is now considered one of the mainstays in the Rajasthan team’s batting even in the IPL competition. In the past few seasons, he has led them successfully as well.

At the beginning of the 2012 season, the Pune Warriors were captained by the veteran Indian all-rounder Sourav Ganguly.

Despite the poor performance, Ganguly decided to rest before the away match against Royal Challengers Bangalore.The Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli also walked out for the toss that evening, along with Smith.

A dominant Royal Challengers Bangalore beat their rivals at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium as 22-year-old Steve Smith made an uneventful captaincy debut with Royal Challengers Bangalore.

3. Suresh Raina – 23 years & 112 days

Chennai Super Kings captain Suresh Raina, who has played an integral role in the franchise’s success, is the third youngest captain in the history of the IPL. Raina took over the captaincy of CSK during the 2010 IPL without MS Dhoni.

While Raina has led CSK in five games, he spent most of his time as Gujarat Lions captain. During the first season of the Indian Premier League in 2016, Gujarat Lions reached the playoffs under his captaincy. This will be Raina’s first season in the IPL, after missing the last one for the Chennai Super Kings.

4. Shreyas Iyer – 23 years & 141 Days

In spite of the fact that Shreyas Iyer was supposed to be the captain of Delhi Capitals this season, he is the fourth on the list because he became the captain of an IPL franchise just a few days before Rishabh Pant was announced as the captain. At the start of the season, Gautam Gambhir was the captain of Delhi Capitals but in the middle of the season, he stepped down and the DC management had no other option than to give the captaincy to Shreyas Iyer.

5. Rishabh Pant – 23 years & 144 days

As part of Delhi Capitals’ franchise ahead of the IPL 2021, wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant has been appointed captain. Pant has been in outstanding form over the last four months. As a result, Shreyas Iyer, who has been the captain of the team during the last few seasons, has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League because of an injury sustained during the ODI series against England.

As far as Pant is concerned, this will be the first time he will lead an IPL side, despite being in charge of Delhi Ranji for more than ten years. A youngster like a youngster will be challenged to captain the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, R Ashwin, Ajvinkya Rahane, and Steve Smith in the upcoming series. Taking the field against CSK in the 10th match of the IPL, Pant will be the fifth-youngest captain in the history of the tournament.

These young captains have all made a mark on the IPL and have led their teams to success with their leadership skills and on-field performances. Their youthful energy and enthusiasm have inspired their teammates and fans, and they have helped to shape the future of Indian cricket.