Rishabh Pant, the former captain of Delhi Capitals, was bought by Lucknow Super Giants for a record-breaking INR 27 crore at the IPL 2025 auction. Even though Delhi Capitals signed KL Rahul in the same auction, it looks like they have chosen another Indian star as their new captain.
India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik has mentioned that this is a great opportunity for Axar Patel to show his leadership skills as vice-captain to Suryakumar Yadav in the upcoming T20I series against England. He also revealed that he will be leading Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025. While the official announcement is still pending, Karthik’s statement is still a significant one.
Axar, who has been part of Delhi for the past six years, was kept on the team for a huge Rs 18 crore before the IPL 2025 mega auction. Axar was chosen as Suryakumar’s deputy for the England T20I series, while the selectors overlooked Hardik Pandya, who was previously considered a possible replacement for Rohit Sharma as T20I captain.
“For Axar Patel, all the very best (for India vice-captaincy). A good opportunity for him. He is going to be the Delhi Capitals’ captain as well. So here is a good opportunity for him to lead and show the way. He has been doing that for Gujarat as well. So, wish him all the luck,” Karthik said.
Axar being made captain means that KL Rahul, an experienced IPL captain, will play as a specialist batter for the first time in five years. Rahul, who was bought by Delhi for a huge Rs 14 crore, brings a lot of experience. He led the Punjab Kings in 2020 and 2021 and was the captain of Lucknow Super Giants from 2022 to 2024.
While Rahul has been successful as an opener for both Punjab and Lucknow, he has also shown his flexibility in the middle order for India, where he bats at No. 5 in ODIs.
Interestingly, if Axar becomes the captain, even Faf du Plessis, who led Royal Challengers Bangalore for three seasons, will play as a specialist batter. The South African was bought by Delhi for his base price of Rs 2 crore.
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Jasir Basharat is a cricket enthusiast capturing the heart of the game through insightful analysis and storytelling sharing his passion for the sport through engaging narratives. He is a business graduate from University of Kashmir.
