MS Dhoni or Rohit Sharma? Tom Moody picks the greatest ever IPL captain

Published - 28 May 2025, 07:40 PM | Updated - 28 May 2025, 11:41 PM

MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Tom Moody. Image Credit: X

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Former Australian cricketer Tom Moody created a buzz with his surprise rankings of top IPL captains during a chat on ESPNcricinfo. The former Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach was asked to blindly rank six well-known IPL leaders from 1 to 6, without knowing the next name coming up.

It all started with Virat Kohli, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru icon who took the side to the finals once and resigned as captain in 2022 after failing to lift the IPL trophy, and Moody ranked the Indian superstar at number five. Kohli led RCB to 66 wins in 143 IPL matches.

Then, the name of India’s current head coach, Gautam Gambhir, popped up, and the Aussie great has put him at number three. Notably, Kolkata Knight Riders won two IPL trophies under Gambhir’s captaincy in 2012 and 2014. He led KKR in 129 IPL matches, winning 71 and losing 57.

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Shreyas Iyer, Gautam Gambhir, and Rohit Sharma were ranked by Tom Moody

The next in the row was Shreyas Iyer, whom Moody placed at number four. Under Iyer’s captaincy, Punjab Kings qualified for Qualifier 1 for the first time since 2014. He also led Kolkata Knight Riders to their third IPL title last year and had taken Delhi Capitals to the finals in 2020.

Meanwhile, Pat Cummins’ name was also asked, and the former SRH head coach placed the current Hyderabad captain at number six. Under Cummins’ captaincy, SRH made it to the IPL 2024 final, losing the trophy to KKR. Last year, the Aussie star had become the fastest to 10 wins as captain.

Well, Moody placed Rohit Sharma at number two. Rohit led Mumbai Indians to five IPL titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020 and became the first captain in the history of the league to win 5 titles with a single franchise. He led Mumbai Indians in 158 matches, winning 87 and losing 67 matches.

Tom Moody ranks MS Dhoni as No.1 IPL captain

And finally, it was time to pick the number one, and it was obvious: MS Dhoni, the charismatic Chennai Super Kings captain. Dhoni, one of India’s most successful captains, also led CSK to five IPL titles and is jointly the most successful captain in the history of the tournament with Rohit.

MS Dhoni has led CSK in 226 IPL matches, winning 133 of them with a win rate of 58.84%. With the bat, he’s scored 5243 runs in 264 games at a strike rate of 137.54 and an average of 39.13, including 24 half-centuries. Dhoni remains one of IPL’s greatest icons and Moody’s No. 1 IPL captain.

Tom Moody reveals why he picked MS Dhoni as the greatest-ever IPL captain

The former Australian cricketer also revealed the reason why he picked MS Dhoni as the greatest IPL captain ever. The cricket pandit has noted that Dhoni is the No. 1 not just because of the trophies he’s won, but also for leading the not-so-strong squads to success with his smart leadership.

Tom Moody said on ESPNCricinfo, “I am happy with my selection and MS Dhoni. I think he is number one because of the number of trophies but also the fact that he's had squads that haven't been the strongest in the tournament.”