IPL 2025: KL Rahul or Axar Patel - Who Will be Delhi Capitals Captain? - DC Co-Owner Talks on Captaincy

Delhi Capitals (DC) will have a new captain in the next edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) following the departure of Rishabh Pant to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) during the bygone IPL 2025 Mega Auction.

DC and Pant parted ways before the auction, leaving the captaincy slot vacant heading into the new season. But the Delhi-based side have plenty of options to choose from to lead their side, having bought two former IPL captains at the IPL auction over the weekend.

The Capitals have roped in KL Rahul and Faf Du Plessis, who captained Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bengaluru respectively in the past few edition of the lucrative league.

DC also have another candidate in Axar Patel, who was one of four players the franchise retained ahead of the big auction, which was held on Sunday (November 24) and Monday (November 25).

After Rahul's selection in the mega auction for IPL 2025, Delhi Capitals (DC) co-owner Parth Jindal opened up about the franchise's captaincy between Rahul and all-rounder Axar.

In the recently concluded IPL auction, DC landed Rahul for Rs 14 crores. After a bidding war between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Delhi Capitals (DC) entered the fray and got an opener, captain, and wicketkeeper-batter option in Rahul.

On the other hand, Axar was retained by the franchise for his consistent performances since joining the team in 2019. While there is much speculation on who would lead the side, co-owner Jindal has said it's too early to take a call and the decision to name a captain will be taken later.

"It's a bit premature to talk about the captaincy. Axar Patel has been with the franchise for a very long time and he was the vice-captain for the last cycle, so we don't know whether it's going to be Axar or whether it's going be somebody else. A lot has to happen.

"I spoke to KL but haven't met him yet. I know him very well personally, I will understand from him (what he thinks), and, it will boil down to what the coaching group and finally what Kiran (Grandhi, the co-owner) and I want to do. There's a lot of time for that," Parth Jindal said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Who will be Delhi Capitals captain in IPL 2025?

In all likelihood, Rahul will be named captain with Axar serving as his deputy. But one shouldn't be surprised if Axar is named the full time captain, having served in the role previously when David Warner and Rishah Pant were unavailable.

There is also a belief that Rahul could do without the load of being the captain. Despite the pressure of leading the side in the past few seasons, Rahul has done consistently well with the bat, scoring over 400 runs in every season except one.

DC could also take an even experienced route by naming Du Plessis as the skipper as the former South African skipper did well during his stint as captain of RCB in the past three seasons. But, if they want an Indian captain, they do have great options in Axar and Rahul.