In big tournaments like the Indian Premier League, which goes on for almost two months, it’s tough for team captains to stay focused and lead their teams well. They have to do a lot of thinking, planning, and meetings, so they don’t get much time to relax between games like other players do. But they love what they do, even though it’s tiring.

As we get ready for the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League, captains like Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni are already excited for the challenges ahead. They’ve been really successful in leading their teams, and they’re great at playing well themselves too.

Now, let’s check out the top 5 captains who have won the most Player of the Match awards in the history of the Indian Premier League

4. Virat Kohli – 11 Awards

Once a Knight, always a Knight. Gautam Gambhir is back with the Kolkata Knight Riders, but this time as their mentor. He led KKR to two IPL titles before, and now he’s back to hopefully bring them more success. Even though he retired in 2018, Gambhir is still one of the most successful captains in the IPL. He scored 4,217 runs and got 36 half-centuries in 152 innings. As a captain, he won 13 Player of the Match awards, which puts him in third place for this record.

2. Rohit Sharma – 13 Awards

Rohit Sharma led the Mumbai Indians to win the IPL five times. He’s the most successful captain in IPL history. He always puts the team first and plays wherever they need him to.

Now, Hardik has taken over as captain, but Rohit still holds the record for the second-most Player of the Match awards as Mumbai Indians’ captain, with 13. He’s also one of the highest scorers in the IPL, with over 6,000 runs. Plus, he’s hit a lot of sixes in his career. He’s been impressive.

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MS Dhoni, the captain of Chennai’s team, is really good at cricket. People love and respect him a lot. He’s led his team to win the IPL five times and also won a couple of other big tournaments.

In the IPL, he’s scored over 5,000 runs in more than 200 games. He’s made 24 half-centuries and his highest score is 84 not out. Dhoni is great at finishing games. He’s been named Player of the Match 16 times, which is the most by any captain in IPL history.

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