Former Indian cricketer turned broadcaster Aakash Chopra has expressed his preference for Axar Patel to lead the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025. He believes Axar’s abilities have been undervalued and thinks he can effectively manage the team. With Rishabh Pant’s release ahead of the auction, the choice for captaincy comes down to Axar Patel or KL Rahul. Axar was retained by Delhi Capitals for Rs 16.50 crore before the auction and remains the only player from DC’s core squad since the IPL 2020 final.
Axar over KL Rahul
Although DC secured KL Rahul for Rs 14 crore during the IPL 2025 mega auction, Chopra leans towards Axar. “Who will be the captain? Their situation is like KKR. It could be Axar Patel. I don’t mind him being the captain. If you give me the option, I would say make Axar the captain. He is extremely underrated, a very mature, fantastic performer, and he will run the team very well. He is someone who will command respect,” Aakash stated on his YouTube channel.
Potential captaincy options
Aakash Chopra also mentioned Faf du Plessis as another potential candidate for captaincy. Faf was acquired by the Delhi Capitals for Rs 2 crore after being released by RCB. Despite having options like KL Rahul and Faf du Plessis, Aakash believes the real competition is between Axar and Rahul for the leadership role.
“KL Rahul could be the other option. The third could be Faf du Plessis if they wish, but they might not play Faf from the start because they used the Right To Match card for Jake Fraser-McGurk. So I am thinking between Axar and Rahul but the management hasn’t given any clarity yet. My vote goes towards Axar because his performances on this ground have been exceptional,” he added.
KL Rahul: A valuable acquisition
Aakash also considers KL Rahul to be a valuable acquisition for Rs 14 crore. “When they couldn’t take Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, they said they were getting KL Rahul for 14 crore. An absolute steal buy. Someone might say fair price, but I would say an absolute steal because it is a very small ground and has a flat pitch,” Aakash remarked.
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