Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has named three possible contenders for the Delhi Capitals’ captaincy in IPL 2025—Axar Patel, KL Rahul, and Faf du Plessis. He believes Axar could be the leading candidate, considering his recent rise in Indian cricket. Delhi retained Axar for Rs 16.50 crore ahead of last year’s mega auction, showcasing their confidence in his skills. They also secured KL Rahul for Rs 14 crore and Faf du Plessis for Rs 2 crore in the Jeddah auction. Axar had an impressive IPL 2024 season, taking 11 wickets at an economy rate of 7.65 and scoring 235 runs at a strike rate of 131.28 across 12 innings.
Chopra Weighs In on Delhi’s Captaincy Choices for Upcoming Season
Chopra feels Delhi has three viable captaincy options: Axar Patel, KL Rahul, and Faf du Plessis. He emphasized Axar’s growing stature, noting his recent performances and leadership role as the vice-captain of the Indian T20I team. “He will play in the Champions Trophy and has been given a crucial role in the Indian ODI team. He is mature, brilliant, and understands the pulse of the game. He puts the team ahead of himself, making him a great choice,” Chopra shared on his YouTube channel.
Chopra also highlighted KL Rahul’s leadership credentials, calling his acquisition by Delhi a “steal.” With prior captaincy experience leading India, Punjab Kings, and Lucknow Super Giants, where they qualified for the playoffs in two seasons, Rahul could be another strong candidate for the role.
As for a more unconventional option, Chopra suggested Faf du Plessis, though he believes Axar may ultimately be the franchise’s choice. “It’s going to be a close race. One has been retained, and the other bought. If they think outside the box, Faf du Plessis could be an option, but I have a feeling it will be Axar,” he concluded.
In another significant development regarding captaincy, Chopra expressed surprise at the appointment of Rajat Patidar as the new Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain for IPL 2025. “Rajat Patidar is now RCB’s leader. We’ll see how effective he proves to be. We expected it to be Kohli, but it’s not. Patidar becomes the eighth captain. Before him, there were Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Kevin Pietersen, Daniel Vettori, Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, and Virat Kohli, who had the longest tenure as captain.”
Although RCB has yet to win an IPL title, Chopra emphasized that the franchise remains competitive. “Great players have led this team. We tend to measure a franchise’s success by the number of trophies won. They haven’t won any yet, but that doesn’t make them unsuccessful. It’s a relatively successful franchise without a title. It’s not a team that consistently sits at the bottom of the table or near the wooden spoon,” he noted.