KL Rahul to not open for Delhi Capitals, check Indian superstar's new batting position and Axar Patel-led side's opening duo

Following his significant contribution to India's 2025 Champions Trophy victory, KL Rahul will embark on a new chapter in his career by joining the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL). After three underwhelming seasons with the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), where his strike rate was questioned, Rahul was released and bought by the Delhi-based team for Rs. 14 crore in the 2025 mega auction.

Rahul's batting position

Before the 2025 season, Rahul is expected to be taken out of the opening position by DC due to ongoing worries about his scoring in the quickly changing T20 format. As per the Times of India report, the 32-year-old will bat in the middle order, while Abhishek Porel, Faf Du Plessis, and Jake Fraser McGurk will play in the top order. According to the source, Rahul is the right-handed middle-order batter that DC sought when Harry Brook decided to leave the league.

Additionally, Rahul will not be the team's captain for the first time since 2019 for the 2025 season. Before leading the LSG from 2022 to 2024, the standout Indian wicketkeeper batsman captained Punjab Kings (PBKS) in 2020 and 2021. Rahul batted in the middle order for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) during their incredible run to the 2016 final, but he has been opening in the IPL since joining PBKS in 2018.

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Except for the match against RCB in 2023, when he was hurt and left the field at number 11, The last instance of Rahul not opening an IPL match was in 2016. Rahul's 2025 season is crucial because, in addition to having points to prove, he also needs to perform well to get back into the very competitive Indian T20I squad. Since the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final loss to England in Adelaide, the 32-year-old has not represented India in the shortest format.

With Porel as a backup, it is unclear if Rahul will take over as the team's wicketkeeper. Following the selection of Axar Patel and Faf Du Plessis for the top positions, DC passed over the former LSG and PBKS captain for both the captaincy and vice-captaincy. He was reportedly offered the leadership position but chose not to accept the extra responsibility, according to some accounts

Rahul has batted in a variety of places in various game types over the past few months. Just before the Champions Trophy, he was dropped to number six in India's ODI squad. Before being asked to open the batting in Australia, he began the Test cricket season at number six in the home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand. In the Boxing Day Test for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he batted at number three as well.

During his IPL career, Rahul has amassed 4683 runs at an average of 45.46 and a strike-rate of 134.60 in 123 innings. In the most lucrative cricket league in the world, he has amassed four hundred and fifty runs during his career. With the exception of 2023, when he missed the final six games because of an injury, he has scored more than 500 runs in every season since 2018. Along with Virat Kohli, Rahul is the only player in league history to score more than 600 runs in a season four times.