Delhi Capitals player KL Rahul might miss the first two matches of the side in Indian Premier League 2025. The 18th edition of IPL is set to kick off on March 22 with a match between defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Eden Gardens. DC start their campaign on March 24 with a match against Lucknow Super Giants in Visakhapatnam. The Axar Patel-led side faces Sunrisers Hyderabad next on March 30. Rahul might not be available for both the games as he is set to welcome his first child with wife Athiya Shetty, hinted Australia women’s captain Alyssa Healy.
Healy, who is also the wife of DC player Mitchell Starc, made the revelation on LiSTNR Sport YouTube channel.
“No Harry Brook, (so) it will be interesting to see who the replacement player will be. They have KL Rahul, who will probably not play the first couple of games I think… they are awaiting the birth of (their) child, but that dynamic, is really cool,” she said.
Rahul was bought by DC for INR 12 crore at IPL 2025 auction held in November last year.
Earlier this year, DC appointed India all-rounder Axar Patel their captain of Delhi Capitals for upcoming IPL.
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.
While his IPL captaincy experience is limited, Axar 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.
Axar replaced 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.
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.
(With PTI Inputs)
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