Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni with the IPL trophy
Fans have seen various strong teams in the T20 leagues, who still finished at the last spot or missed out on the trophy. But there have been a few captains who have ruled the T20 format, winning the trophies. Whether it’s the ICC T20 World Cup or the T20 Leagues, let’s take a look at the captains with the most T20 trophies.
MS Dhoni, also known as the Captain Cool, holds the top spot when it comes to the most number of T20 trophies as a captain. He holds the top spot for having the most T20 trophies as a captain. Just when the T20 format was introduced to the game, Dhoni introduced his captaincy skills and started to make his name in the leaderboard from the start.
| Tournament | Trophy |
|---|---|
| T20 World Cup | 1 (2007) |
| Indian Premier League | 5 (2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, 2023) |
| Champions League T20 | 2 (2010, 2014) |
| Asia Cup | 1 (2016) |
First, he started by winning the T20 World Cup 2007, which was also the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup. He led the Indian team to defeat Pakistan in the tournament final match by 5 runs, which helped the team to end its ICC trophy drought after more than two decades. The match was surely intense, and could have gone either way, but Dhoni maintained his calmness, which helped India to win the title.
Following the win at the T20 World Cup final, Dhoni started to reign with his captaincy for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League and Champions League T20. In 2010, he helped Chennai Super Kings to win their first-ever IPL title, and the team also qualified to participate in the Champions League T20.
Even after winning in the IPL, Dhoni continued his captaincy dominance in the 2010 Champions League T20. Under his captaincy, the team went on to win the CLT20 for the very first time, defeating the Warriors in the finals by 8 wickets. Dhoni was clearly established as the best T20 captain, having won two titles in just one year.
He later went on to create another record by winning the IPL 2011 edition as the defending champions. In the final match, the team defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by a great margin, becoming the only team at that time to have won consecutive IPL seasons. After this, CSK qualified for the CLT20 in the 2014 season, which turned out to be their best again.
In the finals of the 2014 CLT20, the team went against the 2014 IPL winners, Kolkata Knight Riders. The match was expected to be intense, but CSK went for an easy win by 8 wickets, as Dhoni went on to win his fifth T20 title as a captain. This was also the last edition of the Champions League T20, after which the league disbanded.
In 2016, MS Dhoni won his second international T20 trophy, with the help of the Asia Cup. It was for the very first time that this tournament took place in the T20 format, and India went against Bangladesh in the finals. The team was able to defeat them by 8 wickets, adding another trophy for MS Dhoni as a captain in the T20 format.
Following this, Chennai Super Kings also marked its comeback in the IPL 2018 season, after serving a ban of two seasons. Dhoni ensured that this was the strongest comeback for a team and himself also as a captain, as he led Chennai to win its third title by defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final match.
Later, he helped Chennai to win its fourth title in the IPL 2021 season, with the team defeating Kolkata Knight Riders in the finals by 27 runs. The team also went on to win the IPL 2023 season, winning over the Gujarat Titans in the finals, which was Dhoni’s 9th and last T20 trophy as a captain. Although he did play as a captain for CSK in the recent season, it happened due to the injury of Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Following Mahendra Singh Dhoni, in the list of captains with most T20 trophies, is one of the finest T20 captains for the team, Rohit Sharma, with 7 T20 trophies. The Hitman started his captaincy by beating the greatest captain of all time in the shortest format of the game, not just once, but multiple times. The captaincy clashes between Rohit and Dhoni gave birth to the El Clásico of Mumbai and Chennai.
| Tournament | Trophy |
|---|---|
| Indian Premier League | 5 (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020) |
| Champions League T20 | 1 (2013) |
| T20 World Cup | 1 (2024) |
He won his first T20 trophy in the IPL as the captain of the Mumbai Indians. The team struggled a lot to win the IPL, and many times they came inches close to winning, but still ended up losing it. But in IPL 2013, he was announced as the team’s captain and led them to defeat Chennai Super Kings in the finals to win the first-ever title.
After this, it seems like Rohit Sharma didn’t look back, as he hunted down trophies in the shortest format of the game. In the 2013 Champions League T20 edition, Rohit Sharma led the Mumbai Indians to win their second title of this tournament by defeating the Rajasthan Royals in the final match. It was a great start for Rohit, winning two T20 titles in the same year he was announced as a captain.
In the IPL 2015 season, the Mumbai Indians once again reached the finals, despite having a poor start to the season. This time again, they defeated Chennai Super Kings while batting first, winning their first-ever title. Later in IPL 2017, Rohit Sharma led Mumbai to win its third title by defeating Rising Pune Supergiants, with a bare margin of a run.
Although the Mumbai Indians were defending a low total of 129, Rohit Sharma showcased his tactical skills against the team of Dhoni and Smith to lift his 4th T20 trophy as a captain. Now it was time for having the El Clásico final once again, as MS Dhoni, the captain of Chennai Super Kings, went against Rohit Sharma, the captain of Mumbai Indians, in the IPL 2019 final.
Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Super Kings in the finals by 1 run, getting their 4th title, and it also made them the most successful IPL team at that time. However, the team went to dominate once again, as Rohit Sharma led them to consecutive IPL wins by winning the IPL 2020 final against the Delhi Daredevils.
Rohit Sharma played his last T20 tournament as a captain in the T20 World Cup 2024. He led the Indian team from the front, as the team won all matches in the Group Stage and Super Eight. Later, they went on to defeat England in the semi-finals and South Africa in the finals by a bare margin to win the title. It was Rohit’s 7th T20 trophy, and India’s first in a decade.
The English star, Sam Billings, has now also been regarded as the best T20 captain, having won five trophies for his team across different T20 leagues. He started by leading Kent in the Vitality Blast, helping the team to win the 2021 edition of the tournament. Kent defeated Somerset in the finals by 25 runs, as Sam Billings won his first T20 title as a captain.
| Tournament | Trophy |
|---|---|
| Vitality Blast | 1 (2021) |
| The Hundred | 3 (2023, 2024, 2025) |
| International League T20 | 1 (2025) |
After winning the Vitality Blast, Sam Billings also got the captaincy of Oval Invincibles in the Hundred. During the 2023 season, he led Oval Invincibles to beat Manchester Originals by 14 runs to win their first title, and also his second as a captain.
Later in the 2024 season, he broke records in the Hundred and was deemed to be the most successful captain for the tournament. Billings led Oval Invincibles to win its second consecutive The Hundred title, as the team defeated Southern Brave in the finals by 17 runs.
The year 2025 proved to be another year for Sam Billings to dominate as a captain. He once again led Oval Invincibles to win the Hundred, defeating Trent Rockets in the final by 26 runs and lifting its third title. In the same year, Dubai Capitals, in the ILT20, won its first-ever title under the captaincy of Sam Billings, as he won his fifth title as a captain.
Much before players like Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni won their first-ever T20 title as captains, Shoaib Malik started off the list and also broke various records. Currently, he holds the 4th spot in the list of most T20 trophies as a captain, having won 5 trophies, with his last coming many years back as a captain.
| Tournament | Trophies |
|---|---|
| National T20 Cup | 5 (2008, 2008/09, 2010, 2011, 2015) |
He started by leading Sialkot Stallions to win the National T20 Cup final during the 2008 season against Karachi Dolphins. Shoaib Malik helped his team win by 7 wickets and won his first T20 title as a captain. Shoaib Malik didn’t let his dominance as a captain come down in the tournament, as he led the team to win the 2008/09 season, with the team winning against Lahore Lions in the final.
It should be noted that Shoaib Malik missed the final clash, but he led the team to the finals. Later in 2010, when he returned as captain, he led Sialkot Stallions to win the final against Faisalabad Wolves by 5 wickets, winning his second title as a captain.
Shoaib Malik continued his dominance as a captain in the National T20 Cup, winning the final against Rawalpindi Rams in the 2011 season. He further led Sialkot Stallions to win the National T20 League once again in the 2015 season, as this time the team defeated Lahore Lions in the finals by 74 runs, which was also his biggest win as a captain.