IPL 2025: Champions Trophy star named Delhi Capitals skipper

Axar Patel to lead Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025

It is rather unusual for a franchise to wait so long before confirming their captain for the season (although, last season, Chennai Super Kings waited for the eve of the campaign to announce Ruturaj Gaikwad).

After previous skipper Rishabh Pant was not retained, and subsequently moved to Lucknow Super Giants, DC had to decide on their new captain. Axar was thought to be one of the front-runners, as their longest-serving player currently in the squad. He was also retained ahead of the player auction in November, along with Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs and Abishek Porel.

On Friday (March 14), the Capitals confirmed Axar Patel would take over from Pant for the upcoming season.

The other prime candidate for captaincy was thought to be wicketkeeper KL Rahul, who was bought by DC in the player auction for INR 14 crore. Rahul has captained Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in the past, and led Lucknow Super Giants for three seasons before being let go after the 2024 season. South African Faf du Plessis was also another potential option, having led Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2023 & 2024.

Both Axar and Rahul have played starring roles in ODI cricket of late, helping lead India to their third Champions Trophy title last Sunday.

Axar Patel: I feel ready and confident to lead DC

In a statement via the franchise, Axar said: "It is my absolute honour to captain the Delhi Capitals, and I’m deeply grateful to our owners and support staff for placing their faith in me. I’ve grown as a cricketer and a human being during my time here at the Capitals, and I feel ready and confident to lead this side going forward.

"Our coaches and scouts have done a superb job at the mega auction by putting together a balanced and robust squad which has tremendous potential. We have plenty of leaders in the group which is also very helpful for me, and I can’t wait to join the team as we look forward to a very successful season for the Capitals, backed by the immense love and support of our fans."

Read more: IPL 2025: DC's predicted playing XI and impact player

Franchise co-owner Parth Jindal also stressed that Axar would receive ample support from the other squad members: "With seniors like KL Rahul, Faf du Plessis and Mitchell Starc being part of our leadership group, I believe this is the start of something special for the Delhi Capitals."

In 150 IPL matches so far, Axar has scored 1653 runs and picked up 123 wickets, for two franchises. Now entering his seventh season with DC, his record for the franchise reads 967 runs and 62 wickets from 82 matches.

IPL 2025: Full list of all team captains