Top 5 IPL Captains with the Best Winning Percentages

Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Smith, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir have the best winning percentages among IPL captains who have led teams in at least 40 matches. Sachin tops this list with 30 wins from 51 matches, giving him a 58.82% win rate.

A minimum-match condition matters when comparing IPL captains. A captain who leads only 10 or 15 games can produce a very high percentage from a small sample. For this ranking, only captains with at least 40 IPL matches as captain are considered.

Rajat Patidar has a much higher percentage from a smaller sample, but he had captained only 28 matches in the 2026 record set, so he is not included in the main top-five ranking.

Top 5 IPL Captains by Winning Percentage

Win percentage in this table is calculated as wins divided by total matches captained. Tied and no-result matches remain part of the match total. Some published lists exclude no-results when calculating the percentage, which can produce slightly different numbers, particularly for Steve Smith and MS Dhoni.

1. Sachin Tendulkar – 58.82%

Sachin Tendulkar has the best winning percentage among IPL captains with at least 40 matches, winning 30 of his 51 games as Mumbai Indians captain.

Tendulkar captained Mumbai Indians during the early years of the IPL.

His strongest season as captain came in 2010, when Mumbai reached their first IPL final. MI finished at the top of the league table but lost the title match to Chennai Super Kings.

Tendulkar also won the Orange Cap that season after scoring 618 runs.

He did not win an IPL title as captain, but his 30 victories from 51 matches leave him with the highest straightforward wins-to-matches percentage among captains who have led at least 40 games.

2. Steve Smith – 58.14%

Steve Smith won 25 of the 43 IPL matches in which he served as captain, giving him a 58.14% winning percentage when calculated against all matches captained.

Smith captained Pune Warriors India, Rajasthan Royals and Rising Pune Supergiant at different points in his IPL career.

His most notable captaincy campaign came with Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017.

RPS reached the IPL final under Smith and came extremely close to winning the title before losing to Mumbai Indians by one run.

Some IPL statistical lists give Smith a 59.52% win rate because they remove his one no-result match from the calculation. Using total matches captained as the denominator gives 58.14%.

3. MS Dhoni – 57.87%

MS Dhoni has won 136 of his 235 IPL matches as captain, giving him a 57.87% winning percentage.

His sample size is far larger than the two captains above him.

Dhoni captained Chennai Super Kings for most of his IPL career and also led Rising Pune Supergiant during the 2016 season.

He guided CSK to IPL titles in:

• 2010
• 2011
• 2018
• 2021
• 2023

Dhoni also holds the record for the most IPL matches captained.

His combination of 136 wins, five titles and a win percentage close to 58% across more than 200 matches separates his record from captains whose percentages come from much smaller samples.

4. Rohit Sharma – 55.06%

Rohit Sharma won 87 of 158 IPL matches as Mumbai Indians captain, producing a 55.06% winning percentage.

Rohit took over Mumbai Indians' captaincy during IPL 2013 and immediately led them to the title.

He later captained MI to four more championships:

• 2015
• 2017
• 2019
• 2020

That gave Rohit five IPL trophies as captain, matching MS Dhoni's total.

Rohit stepped down as Mumbai Indians captain before IPL 2024, leaving his captaincy record at 158 matches and 87 wins.

5. Gautam Gambhir – 55.03%

Gautam Gambhir won 71 of his 129 matches as an IPL captain, giving him a 55.03% winning percentage.

Gambhir captained Delhi during the earlier part of his IPL career before becoming the leader most closely associated with Kolkata Knight Riders.

He led KKR to their first IPL championship in 2012.

Two years later, Kolkata won another title under his captaincy in 2014.

Gambhir's 71 wins place him behind only a small group of IPL captains in total victories, while his 55% win rate keeps him among the strongest long-term captains by percentage.

Why Is Rajat Patidar Not No. 1 on This List?

Rajat Patidar actually has a higher IPL captaincy win percentage than every player in the main table, but he has captained far fewer matches.

Through the 2026 records reviewed here, Patidar had:

Patidar led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to titles in 2025 and 2026 and won 20 of his first 28 matches as captain.

That 71.43% rate is exceptional, but 28 matches is a much smaller sample than the 40-match minimum used for the main ranking.

If the minimum qualification were only 10 matches, Patidar would rank first.

Highest IPL Captain Winning Percentage With Minimum 10 Matches

When the minimum requirement falls to 10 matches, the ranking changes significantly.

The smaller qualification threshold allows captains with short leadership careers to enter the list.

Patidar is the major example because his first 28 matches included two championship seasons.

Highest Winning Percentage With Minimum 100 IPL Matches

A 100-match minimum gives a clearer picture of captains who maintained their results across many seasons.

With a minimum of 100 matches, MS Dhoni has the highest IPL captaincy winning percentage.

He also has the largest match sample by a significant margin.

MS Dhoni vs Rohit Sharma Captaincy Winning Percentage

Dhoni and Rohit are often compared because both won five IPL titles as captains.

Dhoni leads on matches, wins and winning percentage.

Rohit matches him on championships, with both captains winning the IPL five times.

Hardik Pandya Captaincy Winning Percentage

Hardik Pandya's captaincy record deserves separate mention because he began his leadership career extremely strongly with Gujarat Titans.

He led GT to the IPL 2022 title in their debut season and took them back to the final in 2023.

His later Mumbai Indians seasons reduced his overall percentage.

Updated 2026 captaincy records list Hardik with 37 wins from 70 matches, a win percentage of approximately 52.86% using wins divided by total matches captained.

That keeps him outside the top five under the same calculation used in this article.

Shreyas Iyer Captaincy Winning Percentage

Shreyas Iyer has captained three IPL franchises:

• Delhi Capitals
• Kolkata Knight Riders
• Punjab Kings

Updated records after the 2026 season list Iyer with 55 wins from 101 matches, giving him a straightforward win percentage of 54.46%.

His major captaincy achievements include leading:

• Delhi Capitals to the 2020 final
• Kolkata Knight Riders to the 2024 title
• Punjab Kings to the 2025 final

That makes him one of the few IPL captains to achieve deep playoff runs with several different franchises.

Which IPL Captain Has the Best Winning Percentage?

The answer depends on the minimum number of matches used.

With at least 40 matches as captain, Sachin Tendulkar leads at 58.82% when wins are divided by all matches captained.

With at least 100 matches, MS Dhoni leads at 57.87%.

With a minimum of only 10 matches, Rajat Patidar leads at 71.43%.

Using a minimum-match requirement is important because a short successful spell can otherwise rank above captains who maintained strong results for a decade or more.

Winning Percentage vs IPL Titles

Winning percentage and championship success are not the same thing.

Sachin Tendulkar leads the 40-match percentage ranking used here but never won the IPL as captain.

MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma both won five titles despite ranking below Tendulkar on percentage.

Gautam Gambhir won two titles, while Steve Smith reached a final without winning the trophy as captain.

Win percentage measures how often a captain's team won. Titles measure performance across complete seasons and knockout matches.

Both statistics are useful, but they answer different questions.

FAQs

Who has the best winning percentage as captain in IPL history?

With a minimum of 40 matches as captain, Sachin Tendulkar leads when win percentage is calculated as wins divided by all matches captained. He won 30 of 51 matches for a 58.82% win rate.

Which IPL captain has the highest win percentage with at least 100 matches?

MS Dhoni leads captains with at least 100 matches. He won 136 of 235 games for a 57.87% winning percentage.

What is Rajat Patidar's IPL captaincy win percentage?

Rajat Patidar won 20 of his first 28 IPL matches as captain, giving him a 71.43% winning percentage through the 2026 records used here.

What is MS Dhoni's win percentage as IPL captain?

MS Dhoni won 136 of 235 IPL matches as captain, giving him a 57.87% winning percentage.

What is Rohit Sharma's win percentage as IPL captain?

Rohit Sharma won 87 of 158 IPL matches as captain, giving him a 55.06% winning percentage.

Which IPL captain has won the most matches?

MS Dhoni holds the record with 136 wins as IPL captain. He also captained more IPL matches than any other player.

Sources

• IPL.com – Top 5 IPL Captains by Win Percentage
  View IPL captain winning percentage list
• Indian Express – IPL Captaincy Records and Shreyas Iyer Win Percentage
  View Indian Express captaincy records