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Delhi Capitals (DC) have officially announced Axar Patel as their new captain, ending speculation among fans ahead of the upcoming IPL 2025 which is set to start from March 22. Patel was considered a leading candidate for the position, alongside KL Rahul and Faf du Plessis. He ended up edging out Rahul, who recently joined the team, to become DC's new captain. As the longest-serving player currently on the DC roster, having been with the franchise for six seasons since 2019, Axar Patel was a key retention for the Delhi-based franchise for Rs 16.50 crore ahead of the mega auction last November. In his 82 appearances for Delhi, he has amassed 967 runs and claimed 62 wickets, maintaining an impressive economy rate of just over 7.
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KL Rahul's first reaction after Axar Patel became DC captain
Following the announcement of Axar Patel's appointment, KL Rahul promptly offered his reaction. He took to Instagram to extend his best wishes to the star all-rounder.
"Congrats Bapu. Wishing you the best in this journey and always with you," Rahul's Instagram post read.
Reports were earlier doing rounds that Rahul was offered the DC captaincy but he refused to take up the top role
Rahul, who was bought by DC for Rs 14 crore in the IPL 2025 mega-auction, brings significant captaincy experience to the team. He previously led the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) from 2022 to 2024, guiding them to the playoffs in both 2022 and 2023. Prior to LSG, Rahul captained the Punjab Kings (PBKS) for two seasons, although the team did not advance past the league stage during his tenure. He has also played for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad, and is still seeking his first IPL title.
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Axar's first task as DC captain will come in their IPL 2025 campaign opener against Rahul's previous team Lucknow Super Giants on March 24. The team's first home game is scheduled for April 13, when they will host the Mumbai Indians at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
DC's IPL 2025 schedule
DC vs LSG, March 24 - Vishakhapatnam
DC vs SRH, March 30 - Vishakhapatnam
CSK vs DC, April 5 - Chennai
RCB vs DC, April 10 - Bengaluru
DC vs MI, April 13 - Delhi
DC vs RR, April 16 - Delhi
GT vs DC, April 19 - Ahmedabad
LSG vs DC, April 22 - Lucknow
DC vs RCB, April 27 - Delhi
DC vs KKR, April 29 - Delhi
SRH vs DC, May 5 - Hyderabad
PBKS vs DC, May 8 - Dharamsala
DC vs GT, May 11 - Delhi
MI vs DC, May 15 - Mumbai
DC's IPL 2025 squad
Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Abishek Porel, Mitchell Starc, KL Rahul, 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, Tripurana Vijay, Madhav Tiwari.
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