This T20 World Cup Champion to Lead Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025

New Delhi: Ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, Delhi Capitals made a strategic decision to release Rishabh Pant from their team. To replace him, they were on the lookout for an experienced and capable player who could also potentially step up as captain. The team's smart move saw them secure KL Rahul for a whopping Rs 14 crore. With such a significant investment, it seemed that Rahul would take on the captaincy for Delhi Capitals. However, recent reports suggest that the team might have a different player in mind to fill Pant's shoes.

According to a report from ANI, Delhi Capitals are reportedly considering Axar Patel as the captain for the franchise starting from IPL 2025. During the IPL 2025 mega auction, the Capitals had bagged players such as KL Rahul and Faf du Plessis, both of whom have past experience of captaining in the IPL. The appointment would, therefore, indicate that the franchise is confident of Axar, who has been with the team since 2019.

Parth Jindal, one of the co-owners of Delhi Capitals stated that Axar Patel may likely become the captain of the team after the IPL 2025 auction. In an interview with ESPNCricinfo, he mentioned that Axar Patel was the vice-captain of his team in the previous season of the IPL which suggested him as the potential new captain.

“It’s a bit premature to talk about the captaincy. Axar Patel has been with the franchise for a very long time and he was the vice-captain for the last cycle, so we don’t know whether it’s going to be Axar or whether it’s going to be somebody else,” Jindal had said.

Axar Patel captained the Delhi Capitals in an IPL 2024 game against RCB, as Rishabh Pant received a one-match suspension from the BCCI.

Axar Patel has been named the vice-captain of the Indian team that will play five T20Is against England from January 22 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.