The IPL provides a great platform for many young, talented cricketers. And there’s no better place for a youngster to grab eyeballs with their performances.
What can make them stand apart is having a great sense of leadership. Leading an IPL team at a young age can be overwhelming, but a few overcame the challenge as the responsibility fell on their shoulders.
Here in this piece, we’ll list the five youngest captains to lead a team in the IPL.
5. Shreyas Iyer | 23 Years and 142 Days
Shreyas Iyer is the fifth-youngest skipper in the IPL. He made his captaincy debut at the age of 23 years and 142 days.
Iyer took over as Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) skipper in 2018. It was a mid-season captaincy change as Delhi’s skipper Gautam Gambhir stepped down after only one win in the first six matches.
Iyer added four more wins to Delhi’s tally before the team finished at the bottom. But the next two seasons saw them enter the playoffs on the bounce and the final in 2020 under Iyer’s leadership.
In 2022, he moved to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and guided them to the title triumph in 2024.
4. Riyan Parag | 23 Years and 133 Days
When Riyan Parag led Rajasthan Royals (RR) against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on March 23, 2025, he became the fourth youngest captain in the IPL. He was 23 years and 133 days old on his captaincy debut.
The young all-rounder filled in for RR’s regular skipper, Sanju Samson, who was only available as a batter due to a finger injury. Parag had a poor start as RR failed to chase 287 runs.
3. Suresh Raina | 23 Years and 112 Days
Suresh Raina was a consistent performer for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) throughout his career. Apart from that, he was also the team’s vice captain on many counts.
But Raina stepped up in MS Dhoni’s absence in a few matches. The first of those games came in 2010, when he led the CSK outfit at the age of 23 years and 112 days.
In the game against Delhi Daredevils, Raina played a captain’s knock of an unbeaten 49 to taste a win on his captaincy debut. Overall, he led CSK in five games, three in 2010 and two in 2019.
Meanwhile, Raina was at the helm of Gujarat Lions for two seasons in 2016 and 2017. He took the team to the playoffs in the 2016 season.
2. Steven Smith | 22 Years and 344 Days
Steven Smith occupies the second position on this list. And he is the only overseas skipper to captain an IPL team before turning 23.
With a game to go in the 2012 season, Sourav Ganguly quit as Pune Warriors skipper due to a poor outing. At that time, Smith was still trying to find his feet in international cricket. But here he was tasked to lead the team at the age of 22 years and 344 days.
The one-game captaincy change didn’t bring a positive result as Pune went down against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by 35 runs.
Smith later had a couple of longer captaincy stints with Rajasthan Royals and Rising Pune Supergiant. In all, he captained in 43 matches and won 25 of them.
1. Virat Kohli | 22 Years and 187 Days
The top spot goes to Virat Kohli. The star Indian batter was 22 years and 187 days old on his captaincy debut in 2011, making him the youngest skipper in the IPL.
He led RCB in the absence of regular skipper Daniel Vettori. Kohli had a brilliant start to his captaincy stint with two consecutive wins and a loss in three matches that season.
It was only two years later Kohli assumed the full-time captaincy of RCB and went on to lead them in 143 IPL games with 66 victories.
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