IPL 2025: Who can be Delhi Capitals' captaincy picks?
What's the story
The Delhi Capitals (DC) are restructuring their team ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, which will start on March 14.
The franchise did not retain Rishabh Pant as their skipper for this season.
They have, however, successfully bid for KL Rahul at ₹14 crore and Faf du Plessis at his base price of ₹2 crore.
Here we look at the players who can lead the Capitals in the upcoming season.
#1
Du Plessis brings extensive leadership experience
Faf du Plessis is a former South African batter who has scored 4,571 runs in 145 IPL matches at 35.99 and a strike rate of 136.4.
He led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the last three seasons as the team qualified for the playoffs twice.
Though his rich experience makes him a prime candidate for the DC captaincy, the franchise might not invest on the 40-year-old as he is in the fag end of his career.
#2
KL Rahul: A strong contender for DC's captaincy
KL Rahul, another strong candidate for the captaincy role at DC, has an incredible IPL record with an average of 45.46 and a strike rate of 134.6.
He owns 4,683 runs across 132 games, as per ESPNcricinfo.
On joining the team, he had said that he wanted to win the IPL for himself and DC.
Notably, his captaincy was crucial in taking Lucknow Super Giants to the playoffs twice in 2022 and 2023.
#3
Will Axar Patel pip Rahul?
Having played 150 IPL games and taken 123 wickets at an economy of 7.3, Axar Patel is also in the fray for a leadership role.
Although he is primarily a bowler, Axar has proven his batting skills, having scored 1,653 IPL runs at a strike rate of 130.9.
The fact that he has been associated with DC since 2019 might make the franchise owners select him ahead of Rahul, who is new to the team.