All-rounder Axar Patel and senior wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul are the two leading contenders for the Delhi Capitals (DC) captaincy in IPL 2025, with the Gujarat cricketer having a slight edge. It is expected that the franchise officials will announce their new captain in the coming days after the conclusion of the Champions Trophy 2025.
Before heading to Visakhapatnam for their first two matches, Delhi Capitals will hold a short pre-season training camp in Delhi. Players including Axar, Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, South Africa’s Tristan Stubbs, and Australia’s Jake Fraser-McGurk and Mitchell Starc will assemble in Visakhapatnam on March 17 and 18.
Rahul might miss one or two matches as his wife, Athiya Shetty, is pregnant, and his availability will depend on the expected birth date of their first child. Entering his seventh season with the Capitals, the 31-year-old Axar appears to be the stronger candidate to lead the team compared to Rahul, who will be playing for Delhi for the first time.
Axar has played 150 IPL matches, scoring 1,653 runs at a strike rate of nearly 131 and taking 123 wickets with an economy rate of 7.28. However, Rahul has prior IPL captaincy experience, having led Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the past.
During his tenure, Lucknow reached the playoffs twice, though he was injured for most of one season. Rahul, who will turn 33 on April 18, has scored 4,683 runs in 132 matches at a strike rate of over 134, including four centuries.
