Former India opener Aakash Chopra has advocated for spin all-rounder Axar Patel to be named Delhi Capitals’ (DC) captain for the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Axar was one of the four players retained by the Capitals alongside Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs and Abhishek Porel. During the recently held mega auction, they secured the services of KL Rahul and many expect the wicketkeeper-batter to lead DC in the upcoming season.
However, Aakash opted to go with Axar over Rahul, citing that the former is a fantastic performer and someone who will command respect from his teammates.
"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 said on his YouTube channel.
According to Aakash Chopra, Faf du Plessis could be another captaincy prospect for the Delhi Capitals. The former South African skipper was signed by the franchise for INR 2 crore after RCB released him.
"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 remarked.
DC pipped KKR, RCB and CSK to rope in KL Rahul for INR 14 crore, and Aakash called it a steal buy.
"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," he stated.
Delhi Capitals squad for IPL 2025 season: Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Abishek Porel, KL Rahul, Mitchell Starc, Harry Brook, Jake Fraser-McGurk, T Natarajan, Karun Nair, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Faf du Plessis, Mukesh Kumar, Darshan Nalkande, Vipraj Nigam, Dushmantha Chameera, Donovan Ferreira, Ajay Mandal, Manvanth Kumar, Tripurna Vijay, Madhav Tiwari
