Who is the most expensive captain of IPL 2026? These players are included in the top-3; One got 27 crores

By Samira Vishwas On Mar 14, 2026

Top-3 Highest Paid Captain In IPL 2026: Now only a few days are left for the start of IPL 2026. This tournament will start from March 28, the first match of which will be played between the defending champions Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. So, before the start of this tournament, today through this special article, let us tell you who are the top-3 most expensive captains of IPL 2026 and how much money has been paid for their tournament.

3. Ruturaj Gaikwad And Shubman Gill: Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shubman Gill are jointly at the third position in the list of most expensive captains of IPL 2026. Know that Ruturaj Gaikwad is the captain of the five-time champion team Chennai Super Kings, who has been retained for Rs 18 crores. If we talk about Shubman Gill, he is the captain of Gujarat Titans, who had lifted the winner’s trophy in his very first season. GT has also given a salary of Rs 18 crore to Shubhman Gill for IPL 2026.

2. Shreyas Iyer: Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer is at the second position in this list, to whom PBKS is going to pay a huge salary of Rs 26.75 crore for the year 2026 IPL. It is noteworthy that under the captaincy of Shreyas, PBKS made a splash last year and reached the final of the tournament. This is the reason why Punjab Kings have once again retained him by paying a huge amount of Rs 26.75 crores.

1. Rishabh Pant: The most expensive captain of IPL 2026 is none other than the Indian team’s explosive wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant, to whom Lucknow Super Giants is going to pay Rs 27 crores. Please note that under the captaincy of Rishabh, the Super Giants team could not do anything special last season, however, despite this, LSG did not lose faith in him and once again retained him as captain for Rs 27 crores.

The special thing is that Rishabh Pant is not only the most expensive captain in the history of IPL, but also the most expensive player. Till date, more money has not been spent on any other player than him in the IPL auction to bid or retain him.