Aakash Chopra Picks Delhi Capitals' Captain For IPL 2025

India’s former opener, Aakash Chopra, has reckoned that Delhi Capitals has three captaincy options going into the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The franchise left out their longtime leader, Rishabh Pant, and head coach, Ricky Ponting, before the upcoming edition.

Capitals retained all-rounder Axar Patel ahead of the mega auction for a price of INR 16.50 crore, besides buying the former Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain, KL Rahul, for a price of INR 14 crore. Faf Du Plessis can also be a decent option for the leadership department.

Aakash Chopra keeps faith in these two Indian players for captaincy

Aakash Chopra has shared a video on his YouTube channel, where he opined that the Capitals should look to keep an eye on three players before appointing their leader for the new season. He also focused on Axar Patel’s captaincy credentials.

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“I feel Delhi has three options. They have Axar Patel and KL Rahul, and have Faf du Plessis. Bapu's stature is growing. He has been outstanding of late and is the Indian T20I team's vice-captain.” The former Delhi batter expressed in the video.

“He will play the Champions Trophy as well and has been given a very important role in the Indian ODI team. He is mature. He is brilliant and understands the pulse of the game. He puts the team ahead of himself.” Aakash Chopra added.

Axar Patel, the left-arm spin all-rounder, finished with 235 runs in 12 innings at an average of 29.37 and a strike rate of 131.28 in IPL 2024 for the DC side, besides picking up 11 wickets at an economy rate of 2.65 in 14 innings.

Ex-India opener lauds KL Rahul’s leadership skills

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that KL Rahul’s captaincy experience makes him a decent leadership option for the Capitals. The wicket-keeper batter smashed 520 runs in 14 innings of the IPL 2024 at an average of 37.14 and a strike rate of 136.12, shouldering on four half-centuries at the best score of 82 runs.

“The second is KL Rahul. I feel they got him cheap. It was a steal. He has got some captaincy credentials and has captained India, the Punjab Kings, and the Lucknow Super Giants for three years, and they qualified for two years as well. So he could be the captain.” Aakash Chopra highlighted.

Faf du Plessis can be an outside choice for the side. The former RCB and CSK batter drilled 438 runs in 15 innings at an average of 29.20 for the Bengaluru side at a strike rate of 161.20, thanks to four fifties.

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“I think it's going to be a close race. One has been retained, and the other has been bought. So one between the two, or else if they want to think left-field, then Faf du Plessis, who is not getting old at all. However, I have a feeling that it could be Axar.” Aakash Chopra concluded.

DC seeks a better season in 2025

The 2024 edition of the IPL was a hard one to digest for the side. They finished in the seventh position with just seven victories in 14 encounters at a net run rate of -0.377.

Even in 2023, they were in the penultimate position, thanks to five wins in 14 games. Rishabh Pant won’t be part of the dugout anymore, and it will be a fresh challenge for the 2020 runners-up against Mumbai Indians.