After much speculation, Delhi Capitals (DC) finally announced their captain for the upcoming 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Axar Patel has been named the captain after some reports suggested that KL Rahul would be the next DC captain after the franchise let go of Rishabh Pant. However, Rahul was not given the captaincy, as he reportedly declined that offer. Axar, who has previously captained DC whenever Pant was unavailable, will be leading full-time for the first time since joining DC in 2019. Faf du Plessis has been named as Axar's deputy.
The former RCB captain comes with a huge amount of captaincy experience as he led the franchise for the previous three-year cycle from 2022-24. Du Plessis is also coming off a fine form heading into IPL 2025 season. The veteran also boasts of one of best strike rates for the batter in the in the power play in the last three IPL seasons. For RCB, the former South African batter struck runs at a strike rate of over 150.
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Axar can easily rely on Faf's inputs on the field, as he is a very good reader of the game. Also, Du Plessis is a very calm and composed person, who can help Axar also stay relaxed during the tense moments of the game.
Axar Patel gets support from DC teammates as he begins DC captaincy journey
Often DC management has heaped praises on Axar's character off the field. The Southpaw comes across as a very fun guy off the field, and gels easily with DC teammates. It is this quality that the management backed and that has convinced them to hand over captaincy reins to Axar. Ahead of the IPL 2025 season, few of the all-rounders teammates backed his DC captaincy stint.
"I think just having him in the team is a huge bonus. He's one of the best players around at the moment," Tristan Stubbs, who was also retained by DC, said. "He captained the game last year [against RCB when Pant was suspended for slow over-rate], and he was really calm out in the middle, made the bowlers feel really calm. So hopefully he can do that this year, and we can feed off his energy."
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"Axar has been around for a long time now, and he is going to be a great captain," Karun Nair, one of Axar's new team-mates at DC, said. "He is someone who knows all the facets of the game and understands everyone's situation and roles. He will be versatile like he is always. [I'm] looking forward to meeting him, and learning a lot of things."
