IPL 2026: Seven IPL captains who have a point to prove

Rajat Patidar32 years Royal Challengers BengaluruMadhya Pradesh and India Test batter Rajat Patidar led RCB for the first time in IPL 2025 and helped Virat Kohlirsquos team win their maiden IPL title after 17 long years Patidar managed just 312 runs from 15 IPL matches last season and even while leading his state team MP in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy he scored just 113 runs in eight matches IPL19 is a big opportunity for Patidar to prove himself in the shortest format and also impress the national selectorsRuturaj Gaikwad29 years Chennai Super KingsFor Puneborn India discard and Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad the upcoming IPL is a huge opportunity to prove his ability again In IPL18 CSK finished last with just four wins while Gaikwad was ruled out after just five games due to an elbow injury and ended up scoring 122 runs As this could most likely be the final IPL season for MS Dhoni 44 Gaikwad will be hoping to win a record sixth IPL title for CSK as the perfect parting gift for his excaptainShreyas Iyer31 years Punjab KingsIndiarsquos ODI vicecaptain Shreyas Iyer led from the front to take Punjab Kings to the IPL18 final last season He was among the top six batters scoring 604 runs at an impressive strikerate of 17507 However despite his dominant show the attacking Mumbaibased batter failed to find a place in the Suryakumar Yadavled India T20 World Cup team Iyer who has scored 3731 runs in 133 IPL games will be aiming to prove his mettle again to make a comeback to the India T20 side And winning the IPL trophy he missed last year will be a masterstroke17507Punjab Kingsrsquos Shreyas Iyerrsquos strikerate in IPL 2025 mdash the highest among captainsRishabh Pant28 years Lucknow Super GiantsJust a few years ago Rishabh Pant was Team Indiarsquos first choice wicketkeeperbatter across all formats Pant also became the most expensive player in IPL history after being picked by LSG for Rs 27 crore ahead of IPL 2025 However he managed just 269 runs in 14 games and eventually lost his place in the national team Recently he had a few batting sessions under the watchful eyes of former India allrounder Yuvraj Singh in Mumbai Only time will tell whether that will help him regain his formShubman Gill26 years Gujarat TitansIndiarsquos Test captain Shubman Gill was Suryakumar Yadavrsquos deputy just before the recent T20 World Cup but lost his place due to poor form The stylish Gujarat Titans opener and skipper had a good IPL18 finishing among the top four rungetters with 650 runs including six halfcenturies Gill who has represented India in 36 T20Is will be keen to overcome the T20 World Cup snub and the best way to do it is by excelling in IPL19650Total runs scored by GTrsquos Shubman Gill in IPL 2025 mdash the highest among captainsAjinkya Rahane37 years Kolkata Knight RidersToporder batter Ajinkya Rahane is always remembered for leading India to a spectacular Test series win in Australia in 202021 Rahane who last played a T20I against the West Indies in 2016 has been retained as KKRrsquos skipper despite his team finishing eighth at the last IPL Also with the team management naming attacking batter Rinku Singh 28 as his deputy the Mumbai veteran batter will be under more pressure to deliverRiyan Parag24 years Rajasthan RoyalsRajasthan Royals skipper Riyan Parag is the youngest captain at IPL19 and even low on experience when compared to the rest Parag scored 393 runs last season but it was not enough for RR to progress and they finished secondlast with just four wins There has also been criticism about Paragrsquos appointment as captain given the presence of experienced Indian cricketers like Ravindra Jadeja and Yashasvi Jaiswal Parag will be hoping to silence all critics with his willow