IPL 2025: Who will lead Delhi Capitals this year; KL Rahul or Axar Patel?
With IPL 2025 slated to begin from March 22, country’s ten teams will go head-to-head to win the 18th edition and emerge victorious. Franchises have begun their preparation with hometown camps, and players gearing up for two months of action and excitement.
After India’s triumphant victory in the Champions Trophy, the national team members are now gearing up to represent their respective IPL franchises.
However, the Delhi Capitals are yet to announce their leader for this year’s squad, sparking immense speculation amongst fans and cricket analysts alike. Two leading athletes of the Indian team, all-rounder Axar Patel and senior keeper-batter KL Rahul are the contenders for Delhi Capitals’ captaincy in the upcoming IPL.
As per media reports, the multi-skilled Bapu as he is fondly addressed, Axar may have a slightly higher edge owing to his all-rounding skills. It is understood that the franchise bigwigs will soon announce the name of their new captain in the next few days, having waited for the Champions Trophy to conclude.
Delhi Capitals will have a short training-cum-simulation camp in Delhi before flying to Visakhapatnam for their first two games. Axar, Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, South Africa’s Tristan Stubbs, Australia’s Jake Fraser McGurk and Mitchell Starc are set to gather in Visakhapatnam on March 17 and 18.
With Rahul and wife Athiya Shetty expecting their first child together, he could possibly miss a game or two depending on the due date in April. Meanwhile, with his seventh season with the Delhi Capitals, Axar Patel has played 150 IPL games so far and scored 1653 runs at a strike rate of nearly 131. He has taken close to 123 wickets, at an economy rate of 7.28, making these impressive figures work in his favor and a highly likely candidate to lead the team in comparison to KL, who will join the Delhi group for the first time.
Axar’s consistency as a performer coupled with his game acumen make him an excellent choice to lead the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025. His ability to contribute to both batting and bowling departments is surely an added advantage.
Meanwhile, in the previous three editions of IPL 2022-2024, Rahul had captained Lucknow Supergiants, his previous franchise and also led Punjab Kings prior to that from 2020-2021. LSG had reached two play-offs during his time at the franchise although in one of those, he was injured for the better part of the season.
Rahul has scored 4683 runs at a strike-rate of approx. 134, with his top-order batting in the T20 format. top three. Ina addition, he has also struck four centuries across the 132 games played in his IPL tenure so far.
While his strike-rate in the power plays has been a subject of debate, Rahul has had a phenomenal span between 2018 and 2024, amassing more than 500 runs in six out of seven seasons. In four of those six seasons, he had surpassed 600 runs and was the leading run-scorer in the 2022 edition.
My Perspective:
Axar’s captaincy at the IPL level has not yet been proven while Rahul has led two different franchise teams for few years, having gained considerable experience as a skipper. With less than two weeks left for IPL 2025 to commence, Delhi Capitals side must announce their captain soon.
While Axar Patel appears to be the front-runner due to his experience with the franchise and commendable performances off-late, KL Rahul’s leadership credibility, calm personality and batting-keeping prowess make him a formidable option and give an edge over Patel.
Let’s find out in the coming days as to which player gets the nod and leads from the front in the latest edition.
