The 19th season of the Indian Premier League will get underway with a match between defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. As the biggest stars from the world of cricket gear up for nearly two months of T20 cricket, we look at four players who have featured in every edition of the IPL.
MS Dhoni
Despite being in his 40s, MS Dhoni is showing no signs of moving away from the league. Dhoni has achieved cult status at CSK and is lovingly known as "Thala". Dhoni has captained the franchise to five titles — 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2023 — and made CSK the league's most consistent side.
Bought in the inaugural IPL auction in 2008, Dhoni has been the face of the franchise ever since, barring the two seasons (2016 and 2017) when CSK was suspended and he turned out for Rising Pune Supergiant.
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Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma has won six IPL titles, one with Deccan Chargers and five as captain of Mumbai Indians, making him the joint most successful captain in the league's history. He joined MI in 2011 and took over the captaincy in 2013, leading the franchise to its maiden title in his very first season at the helm, and went on to captain the side for 11 years before being replaced by Hardik Pandya ahead of the 2024 season.
Rohit is MI's leading run-scorer and one of only four batters to have crossed 6,000 runs in the IPL, with two centuries to his name, coming in 2012 and 2024. His most prolific season with the bat came in 2013, when he scored 538 runs in a title-winning campaign, while he was named Player of the Final in 2015 as MI defeated Chennai Super Kings to clinch their second title, with further triumphs following in 2017, 2019 and 2020 under his leadership.
1⃣9⃣ Seasons ????
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 26, 2026
Countless memories ????
And the journey continues for the iconic quartet in #TATAIPL 2026 ???? @msdhoni | @ImRo45 | @imVkohli | @im_manishpandey pic.twitter.com/fIvZX9dm4l
Virat Kohli
While Dhoni, Rohit and Pandey have represented multiple teams in the last 18 years, Kohli holds the distinction of representing just one team since the inception of the league, that is Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Virat's consistency has made him the highest run-getter in the history of the IPL.
The star batter records also holds the for the most centuries (eight) and the most runs in a single season, with 973 in 2016, while also winning the Orange Cap twice, in 2016 and 2024. Kohli captained RCB from 2013 to 2021, guiding them to the 2016 final after an earlier appearance in 2011, but it was only in 2025 that he finally lifted the IPL trophy, this time under the leadership of Rajat Patidar.
He also features in the league's most prolific batting partnerships, sharing 3,123 runs with AB de Villiers and 2,787 with Chris Gayle.
Manish Pandey
Manish Pandey holds the distinction of being the first Indian batter to hit an IPL hundred. He achieved the feat as a 20-year-old batter of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the 2009 edition of the IPL. which was held in South Africa. Pandey might not have achieved the heights of his contemporaries of this exclusive club, but his fitness and hunger to keep playing top-tier cricket has ensured that he continues playing in the IPL.
Pandey's talent and experience has ensured that he has represented seven different IPL teams over the years. In the last 18 years, Pandey has played 174 matches in the league and massed nearly 4,000 runs.
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