Indian Premier League is the most competitive T20 tournament in the world. In a tournament like IPL where you watch players from around the world coming together and enthral the fans, the captains unarguably play the most important role in a team.
The franchise owners expect their captains to lead from the front and make the best team in the tournament.
Leading from the front doesn’t mean just to score runs but rather standing tall when they are needed the most. Only the ones who make the key decisions and turn up with match-winning performances on big occasions are counted amongst the best skippers.
Leaders like Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni have been two prime examples of that in IPL. They have always stood tall when the team demanded them to.
On that note, we look at Indian captains who have scored 50s in IPL final:
#4 MS Dhoni: 2013 IPL
MS Dhoni is counted amongst the most successful skippers in the history of IPL. Barring the 2020 IPL, he has led CSK to the playoffs in all the editions they have been part of. No wonder why his leadership skills are rated so highly in world cricket.
MS Dhoni has played some unbelievable knocks in IPL. The former Indian skipper loves to take the game as deep as possible. More often than not, he has led his team to victory whenever the match has gone to the last over as far as IPL is concerned.
MS Dhoni led CSK to its first IPL title in 2010 IPL and followed it up with another trophy in 2011. He played a brilliant knock in the final of 2013 edition of the cash-rich league but unfortunately couldn’t take his over the line.
Chasing 149 against Mumbai Indians, wickets kept falling at the other end but MS Dhoni tried to took the game as deep as possible. CSK, unfortunately, fell short of 23 runs in the end. He scored 63 runs off 45 balls, including 3 fours and 5 sixes.
#3 Virat Kohli: 2016 IPL
Virat Kohli had an unbelievable season in the 2016 IPL. In 16 games, he scored 973 runs at a jaw-dropping average of 81.08. He hit as many as 4 centuries and 7 half-centuries in that season. Scoring more than 900 runs in a single edition is not a piece of cake. 2016 IPL was a special one for Virat. The RCB skipper did everything to make his side win the title but eventually lost in the finals against SRH.
Chasing a mammoth 209-run target, Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli stitched a vital 114-run partnership for the first wicket. However, once Gayle departed, wickets kept falling at regular intervals. RCB fell short of just 8 runs in the end. Virat Kohli scored 54 runs off 35 balls in that game, including 5 fours and 2 sixes.
#2 Shreyas Iyer: 2020 IPL
Delhi’s decision to make Shreyas Iyer their new skipper has turned their fortunes around in IPL. Delhi Capitals reached the playoffs in the 2019 IPL after seven years. In the recently concluded IPL 2020, Delhi Capitals played the final against Mumbai Indians.
In an important game against MI, skipper Shreyas Iyer stood tall and played a crucial knock of 65 runs off 50 balls. His knock helped the side reach a competitive total of 156 runs. Mumbai Indians, however, chased down the total comfortably in 18.4 overs.
#1 Rohit Sharma: 2015 IPL and 2020 IPL
The most successful captain in the history of IPL, Rohit Sharma needs no introduction. The MI skipper has led his side to five IPL titles. In the final of IPL 2020, Rohit Sharma played a match-winning 68-run knock to guide his side to a 5-wicket victory against Delhi Capitals in the final.
He also played a great knock in an IPL final in the 2015 IPL against Chennai Super Kings, Rohit Sharma played a stellar 26-ball 50 to help his team reach a mammoth 202 in the first innings. MI won that game by 41 runs and thereby bagged their second IPL title.
