Punjab Kings (PBKS) have experienced ups and downs in their journey in the IPL. They have always had problems with their players, let alone their captain.
This might be one reason why they haven’t yet been able to claim the T20 league title. A new captain would come in and a year or two would pass.
How many captains do you think they have had up to the present time?
Well, the answer is 17! It is indeed a huge figure that reveals how inconsistent they have been in the tournament.
Now, let us take a look at the complete list of the Punjab Kings’ IPL captains.
List of IPL captains for Punjab Kings in IPL
1. Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh was chosen by Punjab as their icon player for the first year. Besides, he was also made the first captain of the franchise.
The team made huge steps forward under the local lad and made their way to the semi-finals. Unfortunately, they lost in the semi-final and so they were not able to reach the final.
During the next season PBKS missed out on the playoffs by a narrow margin. They ended up in the fifth spot with seven wins.
Yuvraj led Punjab for 29 matches and finished with 17 wins. Interestingly, Yuvraj is still the most successful of all their captains with a winning percentage of 58.62.
2. Kumar Sangakkara
Punjab assigned the captaincy to Kumar Sangakkara in 2010. The keeper-captain could not change the team’s performance to the better. In fact, it got worse.
Sanga was unable to hold on to the pace as Punjab slid to the bottom of the league table. He took them through 13 matches and secured 4 wins.
3. Mahela Jayawardene
Mahela Jayawardene filled in for his countryman, Sanga, during a match in 2010. Unfortunately, he could not do any better than Sanga and Punjab lost the match.
4. Adam Glichrist
Adam Gilchrist was appointed as the third full-time captain of Punjab in 2011. There were high hopes from him, as he had already two seasons before led the Deccan Chargers to the title victory.
However, Gilchrist could not replicate the same success in Punjab. He was the leader for three seasons but Punjab could not produce anything besides having an average season.
Gilchrist left the league after 2013. He played the captain’s role in 34 matches and had a record of 50-50 in terms of wins and losses.
5. David Hussey
David Hussey was the stand-in skipper in 2012. Gilchrist was missing for half the season; he led the side to five victories out of nine matches. Hussey made sure that Punjab’s playoff chances were still alive when Gilchrist came back for the last two games.
He again substituted Gilchrist for three games in 2013. In total, Hussey led Punjab in 12 matches, with six victories and an equal number of defeats.
6. George Bailey
After Gilchrist’s exit, Punjab assigned the captaincy to another Australian in 2014. Bailey’s peaceful demeanor turned Punjab into a winning machine.
The Kings dominated the league with 11 victories and reached the finals as well. But despite the once-in-a-lifetime performance, Punjab did not claim the trophy.
After a brilliant run in 2014, one might have thought that the same would happen in 2015. But they returned to their old ways.
Bailey could not replicate the last year’s magic as his team finished last in the points table with 11 defeats. In total, he won 14 out of the 30 games he captained Punjab.
7. Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag was the substitute for Bailey in one game in 2015. He led them to a thrilling Super Over victory against Rajasthan.
8. David Miller
Punjab appointed David Miller as the new captain after the miserable run in 2015. However, his captaincy was only for six matches. Miller resigned after winning just one out of six games.
9. Murali Vijay
Under the guidance of Murali Vijay, the fortunes of the team remained unchanged.
The team recorded three more victories during Vijay’s captaincy, and once again, they ended up at the bottom of the league.
10. Glenn Maxwell
The obsession of Punjab with Australian captains continued in 2017. Glenn Maxwell became the 10th captain of Punjab in ten years of IPL!
He started pretty well with two wins. However, the performance dropped in the middle which kept them out of the playoff qualification.
Maxwell had seven wins in 14 matches as Punjab finished the 2017 edition in the fifth position.
11. Ravichandran Ashwin
Punjab went back to an Indian captain in 2018. They made Ravichandran Ashwin their new captain.
The street-smartness of Ashwin did not help him to change the fortunes of Punjab. The team was stuck in the lower half in both 2018 and 2019.
After two below par seasons, the franchise sent Ashwin to Delhi Capitals through a trade in late 2019. The player captaincy count for Punjab is 28 matches with 12 wins attributed to him.
12. KL Rahul
After Ashwin’s departure, Rahul stepped into the captaincy role. But the transition did not offer a respite from the monotonous performances.
Punjab was positioned sixth in 2020 and 2021, while Rahul was the captain in 27 matches with 12 wins for the team.
13. Mayank Agarwal
In 2021 Mayank Agarwal was the first to take over captaincy from Rahul for one match. The next season, however, he was the one to replace Rahul as the full-time captain of Punjab.
Like almost all previous captains, Agarwal also could not reverse their fate. Punjab had mixed results in 2022, as they ended up finishing sixth on the points table.
Winning 7 matches in 14 games was the record of Agarwal who had a win percentage of 50.
14. Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan did lead Punjab in 2023 and 2024. Nevertheless, he was sidelined and missed many games because of his physical problems.
He was the main captain of the team during the entire 2023 season, yet he was not present for more than half the matches in 2024. Six out of 11 games were won by him for Punjab.
15. Sam Curran
Sam Curran was the substitute captain for the years 2023 and 2024. He replaced Dhawan who was injured.
Curran’s captaincy decisions were still quite unproven, but they had no positive impact on Punjab’s fortunes. The England all-rounder was given the team for 11 matches and won five times.
16. Jitesh Sharma
Jitesh Sharma was the first choice for the vice captaincy to Dhawan in 2025. However, he did not have the chance to lead since the management preferred Curran as a substitute captain.
As Curran was unavailable for the last match, Jitesh took over from him. In the only match, Jitesh had to suffer a defeat.
17. Shreyas Iyer
Punjab’s search for a captain was at its peak before the 2025 season. Their quest ended with the signing of Shreyas Iyer at the auction.
The franchise spent INR 26.75 crore to sign the captain of IPL 2024 winning team. And Iyer has delivered the promise of the franchise in his leadership capabilities. He has made a great impact, along with coach Ricky Ponting. Their collaboration has helped PBKS reach IPL finals after 10 years.
