Now only a few hours are left for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to start. The first match of the season is to be played between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Saturday (28 March). The command of RCB is in the hands of Rajat Patidar, while SRH will be captained by Ishan Kishan. SRH’s regular captain Pat Cummins has not been able to recover from injury, due to which Ishaan has been made the captain of the team.
Cummins has joined the SRH squad but he will be out of some matches. This means that at the beginning of IPL 2026, all 10 teams will be captained by Indian players. This will be the second time in IPL history, when the captains of all the teams at the beginning of the season will be Indian players. Let us know how has been the recent performance of these players.
Also read: Where will IPL 2026 matches be seen? Know everything about the squad and schedule of all 10 teams
Rajat Patidar – RCB
RCB captain Rajat Patidar has been struggling with injury and form since the title win in IPL 2025. Patidar, while captaining Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), was able to score only 113 runs in 7 innings at a strike rate of 136.14.
Shreyas Iyer – PBKS
Shreyas Iyer has not played any T20 match since the final of IPL 2025. He was recently selected in the Indian T20 team but was not fielded. Under the captaincy of Shreyas, Punjab Kings (PBKS) had reached the finals last season but missed the title. This time Shreyas would like to end the title drought.
Ruturaj Gaikwad – CSK
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was injured in the middle of the last IPL season. After this he had to go out. He has shown his good form in One Day International and List-A since last season and has scored centuries but he has got a chance to play only one T20 match, in which he could score only 6 runs.
Also read: CSK-RCB clash will happen only once in IPL 2026, why so? Understand the rules of BCCI
Hardik Pandya – MI
Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya is making waves with ball and bat. Since the last IPL, he has taken 22 wickets besides scoring 563 runs at a strike rate of 167.06 in 33 innings. Hardik played an important role in Team India’s title win in the T20 World Cup 2026.
Shubman Gill – GT
Gujarat Titans captain Shubhman Gill was included in the Indian T20 team for the Asia Cup last year. Gill was also made the vice-captain but was dropped from the T20 World Cup squad. Since the last IPL season, he has been able to score only 291 runs in 15 T20 matches at a strike rate of 137.26.
Ishan Kishan – SRH
Ishan Kishan, who entered Team India by making Jharkhand the champion in SMAT 2025, is in great form. Since IPL 2025, he has scored 1049 runs in 23 innings at an unmatched average of 47.66 and a blazing strike rate of 202.11. Ishan was the second highest run scorer for India in the recent T20 World Cup.
Also read: If there is no fan following then it is nothing… BCCI did injustice to Delhi Capitals!
Akshar Patel – DC
Delhi Capitals (DC) captain Akshar Patel was the unsung hero of India’s victory in the T20 World Cup. After taking two turning point catches in the semi-final against England, he dismissed New Zealand’s dangerous opener Finn Allen in the final and put the trophy in India’s bag. Axar has scored 167 runs in 23 T20 innings at a strike rate of 119.28 and taken 26 wickets at an economy of 7.74 since the last IPL.
Rishabh Pant – LSG
The last IPL season was very bad for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain Rishabh Pant. He was able to score only 269 runs in 13 innings. After this he scored 2 Test centuries on the England tour. He also captained the Indian team in the Guwahati Test against South Africa. He was also selected for the ODI series against South Africa but was ruled out due to a leg injury. Pant has not played any T20 match since the last IPL.
Ajinkya Rahane – KKR
Ajinkya Rahane is the oldest captain in IPL 2026. Under his captaincy, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) could win only 5 out of 14 matches last season. Rahane will have to prove himself with the bat this season as well. He has scored 391 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 161.57 since IPL 2025.
Riyan Parag – RR
The recent form of Riyan Parag, who became the new captain of Rajasthan Royals, is nothing special. He has been able to score only 53 runs in 6 innings in T20. During this period his strike rate remained only 74.64. While playing for India-A, Ryan had scored 69 runs in 39 balls against Namibia but he did not come in front of the quality bowling. The upcoming IPL season is going to give him a tough test.
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