Delhi Capitals will have a new leadership group this time around ahead of the 2025 edition of the IPL with Axar Patel being named the captain of the side. The Capitals retained just four players while releasing Rishabh Pant, their former captain and revamping their coaching staff as well.
Delhi Capitals have named former South Africa and ex-RCB skipper Faf du Plessis as their vice-captain ahead of the 2025 edition of the IPL, having named all-rounder Axar Patel as the skipper for the franchise. After a massive revamp ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, which saw the Capitals release their former captain Rishabh Pant and change the whole coaching staff, the 2020 finalists signed a couple of potential captaincy candidates in KL Rahul and du Plessis, before handing the lead role to Axar, who will be with the Delhi franchise for his seventh season.
Du Plessis, who may have turned 40, but was the leading run-getter for Joburg Super Kings in SA20 2025 (scoring 286 runs in 10 innings), led the Saint Lucia Kings to a CPL title last year and has even signed up with GMR’s Southern Brave for the Hundred. Du Plessis is going great guns as far as his fitness and run-scoring are concerned and with Harry Brook unavailable for the rest of the season, the Capitals will be in a good stead with the experienced head of someone like him in the side.
KL Rahul, who might miss a game or two for the Capitals with his wife Athiya Shetty being due, congratulated Axar on becoming the new captain of the franchise after the announcement last Friday. Rahul was the captain of the Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings previously in the IPL, for a cumulative of five seasons, however, the Capitals chose to keep him away from the responsibility and let him focus on his batting.
With du Plessis being named vice-captain, he will be a sure-shot starter in the XI and is likely to open the innings alongside Jake Fraser-McGurk with Abishek Porel and Rahul to follow. Axar Patel, Ashutosh Sharma and Tristan Stubbs make for an exciting middle-order with Mitchell Starc at No 8.
Apart from Starc, the Capitals have been able to pick a quality pace-attack as well to compliment two of the best Indian spinners in T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera, Darshan Nalkande and Mohit Sharma and under Hemang Badani, who recently won the ILT20 for the Dubai Capitals as head coach, Delhi will hope to end their title drought with a good assembled squad.