Captains To Never Lose An IPL Final
The 16th season of the IPL came to a thrilling end with the Chennai Super Kings prevailing over the Gujarat Titans. In what was a tightly contested final, CSK held their nerves to emerge victorious. It was their fifth title win in 14 appearances. CSK is now tied with the Mumbai Indians on the trophy count. Let us look at Captains To Never Lose An IPL Final.
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These two teams have been the most successful ones in the league. KKR with two trophies is third in the pecking order while Rajasthan Royals, now defunct Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Gujarat Titans have one title each.
The captains who made the difference:
A large credit for winning an IPL is attributed to the leader of the side. There have been many IPL captains who led an average-looking side on paper to ultimate glory. They have been used as examples in the following seasons. There have been two similar examples of money ball teams in RR and GT and the way they won the crown. A captain’s legacy is embedded in history once they lead the side to a championship win.
We look at 5 captains who didn’t lose an IPL final:
#5 Shane Warne – 2008
The legendary Shane Warne was appointed as the skipper of RR in 2008. He was both the captain and the coach of the side. RR was mocked for its team selection in the auction. Nobody gave RR a chance and they lost their first game badly. But RR was a different side from the second game onward. They went on to win 11 out of the 14 league matches to top the table.
RR set up the summit clash with MS Dhoni’s CSK. But Warne outdid Dhoni on the night of the finals as RR became the inaugural champions of the IPL. RR made it to the finals just once in 2022 post that initial hurrah.
#4 Adam Gilchrist – 2009
The franchise had a brief yet memorable history with the tournament. Deccan Chargers had assembled all the marquee players in the first auction in 2008. But the side finished poorly and was last among eight teams in the points table. Adam Gilchrist-led DC made a stunning comeback next season. They clinched a last-ball win over RCB in the 2009 finals on the back of an inspired team effort. Gilchrist became the second Australian captain to lead a side to IPL glory. DC never made it to the finals post that season.
#3 David Warner – 2016
He was the talisman for Sunrisers Hyderabad. David Warner captained an underrated side to an IPL title in 2016. He top-scored for SRH scoring 848 runs. Warner was the second-highest run-getter in the whole tournament that year. He marshalled his troops brilliantly to upstage home team RCB in the finals. SRH to date remains the only side to win the crown from the eliminator stage. Warner’s legacy was sealed as an IPL legend on that day!
#2 Gautam Gambhir – 2012 and 2014
He is one of the only two IPL captains to have never lost an IPL final while contesting in more than one final. Gautam Gambhir was the biggest buy in the 2011 mega auction. KKR expected him to turn around their fortunes and appointed him captain instantly. An intense Gambhir did exactly that powering KKR into the playoffs for the very first time in 2011. He took the side all the way in 2012 defeating CSK at home. Gambhir-led KKR did an encore in 2014 when they defeated tournament favourites Kings XI Punjab to win the title.
#1 Rohit Sharma – 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019-20
His success as an IPL captain is unmatched. There would be very few leaders who would boast of such enviable records. Rohit Sharma is one of the main reasons why MI is rated so highly every season. They are the joint most successful IPL team with 5 titles to their name.
But what separates Sharma from others is the fact that he is yet to lose an IPL final. MI has won all the IPL finals where Sharma has led them. They won it for the first time in 2013 and followed it up in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020. Three of these final wins came against MS Dhoni’s CSK. Another interesting fact about Sharma is that he has never lost an IPL final as a player too. He has played in 6 finals and won them all!
