IPL 2026: If we look at the history of the IPL, we'll find that initially, franchise teams were mostly captained by foreigners, and their owners placed more trust in foreign players. Gradually, the trend changed, and young players gained the trust of team owners. Today, IPL 2026 is starting with 10 out of 10 Indian captains.

IPL 2026: IPL 2026 is set to begin on March 28th. The first match will be played between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Bengaluru. The first phase of matches will be played until April 12th, and the schedule has been released. A key feature of this IPL is that all franchises will have Indian captains at the start of the league.

Indian captains will lead all 10 IPL teams.

IPL 2026 Captains List

A notable feature of the 19th season of the IPL is that all 10 teams will be captained by Indian players. However, not all 10 teams are captained by Indians this time; nine teams are led by Indian captains, while one is captained by a foreigner. Sunrisers Hyderabad's regular captain is Pat Cummins, but he is currently injured, so Ishan Kishan will captain in his place for the first few matches.

8 Indian captains were captains in 2025

In the 18th season of the IPL, eight out of the ten teams were captained by Indians, while two were led by foreign players. However, in the initial phase of the IPL, from 2008 to 2012, there was a period of foreign captains, with 5-6 of the eight teams captained by foreign players. After 2012, a balance between Indian and foreign captains was established, and gradually, Indian captains gained dominance. Captains like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli increased the confidence of the owners, and this is where the era of Indian captains began.

 PC:Prabhat Khabar