Overseas captain in IPL history
The Indian Premier League has evolved to a great extent and given the opportunity to many cricketers so far including the overseas players. When we talk about skippers in IPL, names like MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir crosses our mind. Over the years, there are overseas skippers too who have managed to script their names in the IPL history as team skippers for one of the most successful cricket leagues.
Some of the many renowned names include Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, David Warner have led IPL teams and even won the titles respectively. While some overseas players now are commentators and panelists in IPL such as David Hussey and Kevin Pieterson. Whereas some have been entitled as IPL coaches like Shane Warne, Daniel Vettori, and Ricky Ponting.
On the other hand, there are few who are still playing in the league such as Glenn Maxwell, Dwayne Bravo to name a couple of them. Here we take you through overseas cricketers who led IPL franchises from different countries at a certain point in time.
England: Kevin Pietersen is the only Brit cricketer to have led in IPL. However it wasn’t something of grand scale, he led Delhi Daredevils (Now, Delhi Capitals) to a solitary win and 11 losses during 2014 IPL.
Australia: Apart from India, Australia holds the record for most skippers in IPL which is 12 in total. And many of them have also been the most successful and hold numerous records. Looking at the numbers, Apart from Indian skippers Rohit, Dhoni, and Gambhir, there are only Australian captains Warne, Gilchrist, and Warner who have won the IPL. Of all the Australian skippers, Steven Smith has the best record as a skipper with a win percentage of 66.7 from 24 matches. Whereas, Gilchrist has led in most IPL matches (74).
| Player | Teams | Span | M | W | L | T | NR | Win % |
| Adam Gilchrist | Deccan Chargers, Kings XI Punjab | 2008-2013 | 74 | 35 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 47.3 |
| Shane Warne | Rajasthan Royals | 2008-2011 | 55 | 30 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 55.4 |
| David Warner | Delhi Daredevils, Sunrisers Hyderabad | 2013-2017 | 47 | 26 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 55.3 |
| George Bailey | Kings XI Punjab | 2014-2015 | 30 | 14 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 46.7 |
| Steven Smith | Pune Warriors, Rajasthan Royals, Rising Pune Supergiant | 2012-2017 | 24 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 66.7 |
| Shane Watson | Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore | 2008-2017 | 24 | 8 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 39.1 |
| Glenn Maxwell | Kings XI Punjab | 2017-2017 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 50.0 |
| David Hussey | Kings XI Punjab | 2012-2013 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 50.0 |
| Aaron Finch | Pune Warriors | 2013-2013 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 20.0 |
| Ricky Ponting | Mumbai Indians | 2013-2013 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 50.0 |
| James Hopes | Delhi Daredevils | 2011-2011 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Cameron White | Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad | 2011-2013 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 58.3 |
Sri Lanka: In the older editions of IPL, the season witnessed 3 Sri Lankans who led IPL franchises, namely Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, and Angelo Mathews. While Jayawardene, currently is Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach, has a slight edge over Sangakkara when it comes to captaincy records.
| Player | Teams | Span | M | W | L | T | NR | Win % |
| Kumar Sangakkara | Deccan Chargers, Kings XI Punjab, Sunrisers Hyderabad | 2010-2013 | 47 | 15 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 34.0 |
| Mahela Jayawardene | Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Kochi Tuskers Kerala | 2010-2013 | 30 | 10 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 35.0 |
| Angelo Mathews | Pune Warriors | 2013-2013 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 20.0 |
New Zealand: New Zealand had three skippers in IPL before this season with the likes of Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, and Ross Taylor. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had almost called it quits prior to Anil Kumble when Daniel Vettori took over the charge. Vettori still continues to stay in the thick of things as an RCB coach. Meanwhile, Kane Williamson is the new addition to the list of skippers in IPL from New Zealand. He is still undefeated as IPL captain (and so was Taylor in his only match):
| Player | Teams | Span | M | W | L | T | NR | Win % |
| Daniel Vettori | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 2011-2012 | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 54.5 |
| Brendon McCullum | Gujarat Lions, Kolkata Knight Riders | 2009-2016 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 25.0 |
| Ross Taylor | Pune Warriors | 2013-2013 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
| Kane Williamson | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 2018-2018 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 |
South Africa: From the current clan of South African cricketers playing IPL total of 9 players, JP Duminy has had the opportunity to captain in most IPL matches. However, it is Shaun Pollock who holds a better win percentage. Pollock was appointed MI captain after Harbhajan Singh was called off due to a ban in 2008.
| Player | Teams | Span | M | W | L | T | NR | Win % |
| JP Duminy | Delhi Daredevils | 2015-2016 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 40.0 |
| David Miller | Kings XI Punjab | 2016-2016 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16.7 |
| Shaun Pollock | Mumbai Indians | 2008-2008 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 75.0 |
West Indies: The legendary windies players Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, and Dwayne Bravo have all led IPL franchises, but none of them led it for an entire season and none of them have had an opportunity to script any history.
| Player | Teams | Span | M | W | L | T | NR | Win % |
| Darren Sammy | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 2014-2014 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.0 |
| Dwayne Bravo | Mumbai Indians | 2010-2010 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Kieron Pollard | Mumbai Indians | 2014-2014 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 33.3 |
