Punjab Kings has struggled to find a steady candidate to shoulder the weight of leadership over the years in the Indian Premier League (IPL). As a result, the franchise has been led by 16 captains in 17 seasons and hasn’t been able to make it to the playoffs since 2014.
Ahead of the 2025 season, Kings will hope that Shreyas Iyer – their 17th skipper – will turn the tide and help them reach the last-four stage and beyond this time around.
Iyer was bought for whopping Rs. 26.75 crore at the auction last year after leading Kolkata Knight Riders to the title in the 2024 season.
The 30-year-old will hope to bring glory to a team that has been captained by legends such as Adam Gilchrist, Yuvraj Singh and R. Ashwin.
While Gilchrist has led Punjab in more matches than any other skipper, Yuvraj is the franchise’s most successful captain by win-loss ratio.
Full list of Punjab Kings captains from IPL 2008 to IPL 2024
| Captain | Span | Matches | Won | Lost | W/L |
| Adam Gilchrist | 2011-2013 | 34 | 17 | 17 | 1.000 |
| Yuvraj Singh | 2008-2009 | 29 | 17 | 12 | 1.416 |
| George Bailey | 2014-2015 | 30 | 14 | 16 | 0.875 |
| R. Ashwin | 2018-2019 | 28 | 12 | 16 | 0.750 |
| KL Rahul | 2020-2021 | 27 | 11 | 14 | 0.785 |
| Mayank Agarwal | 2021-2022 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 1.000 |
| Glenn Maxwell | 2017-2017 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 1.000 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 2022-2024 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 0.545 |
| David Hussey | 2012-2013 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 1.000 |
| Sam Curran | 2023-2024 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0.833 |
| Kumar Sangakkara | 2010-2010 | 13 | 3 | 9 | 0.333 |
| Murali Vijay | 2016-2016 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0.600 |
| David Miller | 2016-2016 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0.200 |
| Mahela Jayawardene | 2010-2010 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Virender Sehwag | 2015-2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Jitesh Sharma | 2024-2024 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |