IPL 2025, Axar Patel named Delhi Capitals captain: Details
What's the story
Axar Patel, who was instrumental in India's recent Champions Trophy triumph, will lead Delhi Capitals (DC) in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season, starting on March 22.
The franchise announced the same on March 14 morning.
The all-rounder had earlier led DC as a stand-in captain in a IPL 2024 game when Rishabh Pant was unavailable due to an over-rate offense.
Here are furter details.
Player profile
Patel's long-standing association with DC and impressive stats
Patel has been with the Delhi Capitals since 2019 and was retained for a whopping ₹18 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.
In IPL, he has been phenomenal with 1,653 runs at a strike rate of 130.88 in 150 matches, as per ESPNcricinfo.
He has also picked up 123 wickets with his left-arm spin bowling at an economy of 7.28.
DYK
Axar picked ahead of Rahul
In KL Rahul, DC had another massive conterdor for the leadership role.
His captaincy was crucial in taking Lucknow Super Giants to the playoffs twice in 2022 and 2023.
His batting performance is also commendable, as he has scored over 500 runs in every full season since 2018, including a brilliant tally of 520 runs in IPL 2024.
Season opener
Delhi Capitals's pre-season training camp and 1st match
Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals will open their IPL 2025 campaign against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam on March 24.
Ahead of this, the team will hold a short three-day training camp in New Delhi this week, before departing for Visakhapatnam on March 17.
This is an important phase for Patel as he gears up for his new role as captain.