IPL 2026: Which captain loses the most? Rankings revealed

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to begin on March 28 with the opening fixture between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Over the years, the IPL has witnessed many successful captains who’ve led their teams to multiple title victories with their astute leadership.

However, there has also been a crop of players who haven’t been able to find success at the T20 extravaganza despite their best efforts. With the 19^th edition of the tournament set to kick off in a few days, here’s a ranking of all ten captains of the upcoming season on the basis of their loss percentage:

1. Riyan Parag

Touted as Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) future, Riyan Parag was handed over the leadership duties of his team in 2025 as regular skipper Sanju Samson missed the first half of the season and later got ruled out after playing a few matches. Parag had a tough time adapting into the new role as he could only lead his team to two wins out of eight matches and had a loss percentage of 75%. The youngster will have the massive task of moving beyond his past failures in the upcoming season having been given the full-time leadership of the team.

2. Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane had a good start to his leadership tenure as he guided Rajasthan Royals to the playoffs in his first season as a skipper. However, he failed to continue his good work in the following year and was stripped of his duties by the franchise midway through the season. He was later surprisingly handed over the captaincy duties of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), where he again failed to guide the team to playoffs. As a result, Rahane’s record stands among the worst in IPL history, having lost 23 out of 38 games in his career, with a loss percentage of 60.52%.

3. Ruturaj Gaikwad

The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain was handed over the leadership of the franchise in 2024 after MS Dhoni stepped away from the role. Gaikwad captained the entire season but failed to take his team to the playoffs. His captaincy stint was halted by an injury in 2025, midway through the season after CSK had a poor start. As a result, Gaikwad’s captaincy record got severely affected, and he ranks in third spot in the list with 11 losses from 19 games, having a loss percentage of 57.89%.

4. Shubman Gill

Like most captains, Gill also had a tough time adapting to the new responsibility of leading the team in 2024 as Gujarat Titans (GT) failed to reach playoffs for the first time in their history. However, after a year in deep water, Gill finally learned to swim by the second season and guided GT to the playoffs. Gill’s record has improved after his first season, and it’s only bound to get better in the years to come. He has suffered 13 losses from 27 matches so far with a loss percentage of 48.14%.

5. Axar Patel

After being the silent contributor for his teams for years, Axar finally had his first taste of leadership in 2025. The all-rounder used his experience well in the initial phase, guiding Delhi Capitals (DC) to six wins out of eight matches. However, the franchise lost its way after a good start and won just one out of their last six games to get knocked out before the playoffs. Patel had a rough beginning to his captaincy tenure in IPL, losing six matches with a loss percentage of 46.15%.

6. Rishabh Pant

The wicketkeeper batter had a good beginning as a leader, guiding Delhi Capitals (DC) to playoffs in his debut season. However, he has struggled massively since then, not being able to replicate his feat either for Delhi or for his new team, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Pant will head into the season, determined to flip the script as his current record doesn’t put him in the higher echelons of IPL skippers. He has suffered 27 losses out of 57 matches, having a loss percentage of 47.36%.

7. Shreyas Iyer

Despite being rushed into the leadership at an early age, Iyer took the responsibility head-on and changed the fortunes of Delhi Capitals with his tactical mastery. He first ended their long playoffs drought in 2019 and guided them to their maiden final in 2020. Later, he led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their third title and further captained Punjab Kings (PBKS) to just their second final last season. Iyer has tasted massive success in his captaincy tenure and hence ranks quite low in the list with 35 losses out of 87 games, having a loss percentage of 40.22%.

8. Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya is one of the few captains in IPL history to have won the tournament in his first season as skipper. Panya further guided Gujarat Titans (GT) to their second successive final in 2023 but came short against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He later led Mumbai Indians (MI) to playoffs under his leadership in 2025, but the team got knocked out in Qualifier 2. Pandya boasts a phenomenal record among the current captains and hence finds his name in the lower rungs of this list with a win percentage of 41.66%, having lost 25 out of 60 games.

9. Rajat Patidar

Rajat Patidar ended Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) long wait for an IPL title, guiding them to their maiden triumph in 2025. Patidar took over the leadership duties from Faf du Plessis and instantly had a Midas touch. HIs guidance worked wonders for the franchise, as they ended their poor record in away venues throughout the season and eventually lifted their maiden trophy. Patidar heads into IPL 2026 with the least number of losses to his name as captain among all and hence takes the last spot in the list with a loss percentage of 23.07%.

Note – It will be the first season for Ishan Kishan as captain of the IPL, as he's set to lead Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and hence he doesn’t have any record to rank in this list.