India star all-rounder Axar Patel, who had a great Champions Trophy 2025 s a No. 5 batter and as a spinner too, was on Friday named captain of Delhi Capitals for IPL. He pipped another heavyweight contender KL Rahul, who has joined the team this season. Currently team’s longest serving player, having played six seasons for Delhi since 2019, the 31-year-old was DC’s top retention for INR 16.50 crore ahead of the mega auction last November. In 82 games for Delhi, he has scored 967 runs and picked up 62 wickets at a fantastic economy rate of shade over 7.
KL Rahul has now reacted on Axar becoming the Delhi Capitals captain.
“Congrats Bapu. Wishing you the best in this journey and always with you,” KL Rahul wrote on Delhi Capitals’ Instagram post announcing Axar Patel as the captain.
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) March 14, 2025
While his IPL captaincy experience is limited, he led Gujarat in domestic cricket including the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2024-25.
He also served as India’s T20I vice-captain earlier this year and in their recent triumph in Champions Trophy Axar played a key role, taking five wickets at an economy of 4.35. He also played a key role at No 5 and scored 109 runs at 27.25.
“It is my absolute honour to captain the Delhi Capitals, and I’m deeply grateful to our owners and support staff for placing their faith in me,” stated Axar in a media release.
Axar will replace Rishabh Pant at the helm with the flamboyant keeper-batter exiting the franchise before the mega auction, and will now lead Lucknow Super Giants.
The team has seasoned players like Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Faf du Plessis, and Mitchell Starc in the leadership group, and it remains to be seen how Axar brings out the best in them to drive Delhi Capitals forward.
“I’ve grown as a cricketer and a human being during my time here at the Capitals, and I feel ready and confident to lead this side going forward.
DC, one of the three original IPL franchises yet to win a title (along with Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru), finished sixth last season with an equal win-loss record.
For IPL 2025, they have a revamped coaching setup with GMR taking management control for 2025 and 2026 season as per their understanding with co-owners JSW.
The support staff is headlined by Kevin Pietersen along with head coach Hemang Badani, director of cricket Venugopal Rao, assistant coach Matthew Mott and bowling coach Munaf Patel. Venugopal Rao’s brother Gnaneshwar Rao has also been included in the coaching set-up.
“Our coaches and scouts have done a superb job at the mega auction by putting together a balanced and robust squad which has tremendous potential.
“We have plenty of leaders in the group which is also very helpful for me, and I can’t wait to join the team as we look forward to a very successful season.” Last season, he scored 235 runs at an average of nearly 30 and took 11 wickets at an economy of 7.65.
A veteran of 150 IPL matches, Axar has 1653 runs and 123 wickets to his name, which includes a stunning hat-trick in 2016 when he took 4 wickets in 5 balls for the Punjab franchise.
With PTI inputs
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