IPL 2025: Have a look at all 10 captains
What's the story
The much-awaited Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season will kick off on March 22.
All 10 franchises have named their captains ahead of the 2025 opener.
Reigning champions Kolkata Knight Riders, along with Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings, Lucknow Super Giants, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru have named new captains for the season.
Meanwhile, the five sides who had retained their skippers are Gujarat Titans, Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Rajasthan Royals.
Here's the list.
DC
Delhi Capitals: Axar Patel
DC were the latest and last franchise to name their skipper for the 2025 IPL season.
Axar Patel took over from Rishabh Pant, who was released by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. The latter was picked by Lucknow Super Giants for a whopping ₹27 crore.
Patel joined DC ahead of the 2019 IPL season and has been an integral part of the franchise ever since. He has recorded 1,653 runs and 123 wickets.
LSG
Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant
As mentioned, LSG acquired Pant for a record ₹27 crore, making him the most expensive player in the IPL.
Pant has been a consistent performer in the IPL since his debut in 2016. He has scored 3,284 runs in 110 matches at an average of 35.31, including one century and 18 half-centuries.
Pant finished as DC's highest scorer in 2024. He amassed 446 runs from 13 matches at an average of 40.54. He struck at 155.40.
KKR
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane
Despite winning the tournament last year, Kolkata Knight Riders had an overhaul of their roster.
They replaced their title-winning captain Shreyas Iyer with Ajinkya Rahane after releasing the former.
Although Venkatesh Iyer was also in line for the role, he has been named the franchise's vice-captain.
Rahane comes with a wealth of experience, having captained India across all three formats. He has also captained Rajasthan Royals and Rising Pune Supergiants across 25 matches.
PBKS
Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer
Indian batter Shreyas Iyer was named the Punjab Kings captain in January this year. He was picked up by the Kings for a record ₹26.75 crore in the mega auction.
Iyer is one of only eight captains to have won the IPL, having led the Knight Riders to victory in 2024.
Last year, he became the first player to lead two different franchises to IPL finals. Under him, DC finished as the runners-up in 2020.
RCB
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Rajat Patidar
In a surprising turn of events, RCB named Rajat Patidar as their captain for the 2025 IPL season.
Patidar replaced Faf du Plessis, who was released by the Royal Challengers following IPL 2024.
Patidar will become the eighth player to lead RCB in the IPL. He joins Virat Kohli, du Plessis, Anil Kumble, Daniel Vettori, Rahul Dravid, Kevin Pietersen, and Shane Watson.
Captains
A look at retained skippers
As mentioned, Gujarat Titans, Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Rajasthan Royals had already retained their captains.
These are Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Pat Cummins, and Sanju Samson respectively.
Notably, Suryakumar Yadav will lead MI in their IPL 2025 opener, as Pandya is out with a one-match ban.
Meanwhile, Riyan Parag has replaced the injured Samson as captain for the first three games.