It is not a surprising fact that the IPL has escalated the standards of T20 leagues, with its Midas touch that has turned many players into overnight heroes. Apart from being a breeding ground for many youngsters, the tournament has also nurtured several captains throughout the years. Skippers of all ages have taken over the throne- be it Virat Kohli, who was handed over the captaincy at 24, or Shane Warne who guided the Rajasthan Royals to the IPL trophy at 41.
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While many teams have had as many as nine captains over the nine editions, a few captains have been with a single team throughout and have constructed their team in their own way. Out of all the captains in the IPL, two of them have constantly been in contention to prove that their respective team is the better one – Gautam Gambhir and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Having led two of the most successful teams in the IPL, these captains were the driving force behind India's World Cup victories in 2007 and 2011.
There is an evident friction between the two and it has been said they do not share a warm relationship, especially after Gambhir was sidelined from getting a place in the international team. This further escalated when there were reports saying that the two captains refused to shake hands with each other after the match between Delhi and Jharkhand during the Vijay Hazare trophy, though both of them rubbished the rumours later.
The captains, who have been the reason behind Kolkata Knight Riders' and the defunct Chennai Super Kings' two-time title wins have been the powerhouses for their teams and have fiercely tried to emulate each other every season.
Here we analyse who is the better captain in the IPL.
Gautam Gambhir
The 34-year old southpaw, who was initially roped in by his home-team Delhi Daredevils to play under Virender Sehwag, moved to the revamped Kolkata Knight Riders in 2011 and took over as the captain. Leading the team in 105 matches in all competitions, Gambhir has been a lynchpin for the KKR, attacking from the top-order along with Robin Uthappa.
The aggressive opener has set the definition of a 'captain's knock' with his several half-centuries over various editions of the IPL, the recent one being his match-winning 60-ball 90 against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 16.
Being bought for a record $2.4 million back in the fourth edition of the tournament, Gambhir took the team to the playoffs for the very first time. In the 2012 season, KKR went on to win the IPL trophy with a record of ten wins and five losses after beating the then defending champions Chennai Super Kings in the finals. After a dull 2013 season, KKR again qualified into the finals and lifted the trophy for the second time in 2014.
Gambhir has been applauded for making a burly team out of KKR, but the best words have definitely come from the team's mentor and legendary pacer Wasim Akram, who called him the "best captain of IPL".
Under Gambhir's captaincy, including the Champions League T20, KKR have won 60 matches playing a total of 105 with a win aggregate of 58.17%. In the IPL, as a captain of two teams from 2009 to this edition of the IPL, Gambhir has a 58.01 win percentage, winning 61 out of the 106 games.
Though the skipper has no IPL tons in his bag, he has a total of 31 half-centuries, the most by an Indian player in the tournament. Apart from being a striking batsman for his team, Gambhir has also nurtured several youngsters like Iqbal Abdulla, Suryakumar Yadav and Manvinder Bisla, who have been match-winners for the team several times.
Gambhir has tried to intimidate Dhoni a number of the times with his field settings and had done it recently when he had the former Test captain surrounded by two slips, and fielders at short leg and silly point. Though his outbursts on the field and his cold approach against his rivals have bitten him several times, Gambhir's dedication and his role in cementing KKR's name as one of the most successful IPL teams have overshadowed all the negatives.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Rated as the best finisher in the world, MS Dhoni's stint with the Chennai Super Kings franchise has made him one of the most successful T20 captains of all time. Though the skipper struggled with his new and injury-hit franchise Rising Pune Supergiants, the results while playing with the yellow jersey have been historic.
Becoming the first Indian captain to win the IPL, Dhoni also led the team to the playoffs in every single edition and got them the title twice. It was not just in the IPL, the team proved its success even in the Champions League T20 by winning the title in 2010.
It was evident that Dhoni has been the passkey in CSK's squad selection. Compared to Gambhir, Dhoni has been defensive in his approach and has very occasionally come out of his comfort zone to experiment with the starting XI.
With hardly any team changes being made after every game, Dhoni built an army that rarely saw new faces in the team. The likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Murali Vijay and Mohit Sharma were lucky as they became a mainstay in the team, but names like Joginder Sharma and Manpreet Singh Gony have almost been erased from cricket records.
He does give a chance to someone who has been in a poor form but there have been a number of players who have warmed the chairs in the dugout; an example would be the young Baba Aparajith, who was in CSK for three years and now has followed Dhoni to RPSG, without getting a single chance in the playing XI.
The ability to perform under pressure has been the wicket-keeper’s greatest quality. Dhoni also built a balanced team unlike other franchises, there was no dependence on a single person to score or pick wickets. And if none of those worked, the captain himself would step in and take control of the game.
Luck has definitely favoured the 34-year-old, but his stats speak a lot too. He has led CSK in 129 matches and has a success rate of 60.93%. Though this season with RPSG has been a let-down, Dhoni's last match heroics against Kings XI Punjab, when he hit 23 runs of the final over was enough to prove why he is the best finisher in the world. As a captain of two IPL teams, Dhoni has won 83 matches and has 58.45% win rate.
The leadership skills and the constructive numbers definitely put ‘Captain Cool’ ahead of KKR's Gambhir.
| Captain | Span | Total matches | Won | Lost | Success rate |
| Mahendra Singh Dhoni (CSK, RPSG) | 2008-2016 | 143 | 83 | 59 | 58.45% |
| Gautam Gambhir (DD, KKR) | 2009-2016 | 106 | 61 | 44 | 58.01% |
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