Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra shared his opinion on who should lead the Delhi Capitals in the upcoming IPL 2025 season. Aakash Chopra said that all-rounder Axar Patel should be named captain of the Delhi Capitals ahead of KL Rahul in the T20 tournament of next year.
Delhi Capitals were left skipper after releasing Rishabh Pant ahead of the mega auction IPL 2025. They failed to reacquire Pant during the auction but signed KL Rahul for Rs 14 crore for the upcoming season. Rahul and Axar Patel are being speculated as captaincy options for the Capitals.
I would say Axar Patel was the captain – Aakash Chopra
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said that Axar Patel should lead the Delhi Capitals, describing him as a mature and underrated player. Chopra was confident in Axar’s ability to lead the team very well.
“Who will be the captain? His situation is like KKR. It could be Axar Patel. I don’t mind him being the captain. If you give me the option, I would say Axar is the captain. He is extremely underrated, very mature, fantastic and will lead the team very well. “He is someone who will command respect,” Chopra said.
KL Rahul could be the other option – Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra said Faf du Plessis could also be an option as captain. The Delhi Capitals bought him for Rs 2 crore after he was released by RCB. However, Chopra believes Axar Patel would be a better option for captaincy over Rahul and Faf.
“KL Rahul could be the other option. The third could be Faf du Plessis if they want, but they might not play Faf from the start because they used the Right To Match card for Jake Fraser-McGurk. So I’m thinking between Axar and Rahul, but the management has not yet given any clarity. My vote is for Axar because his performances in this field have been exceptional,” Chopra added.
I would say it’s a real bargain because… – Aakash Chopra
Axar Patel was signed by Delhi Capitals for Rs 16.50 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 auction and is the only player left from DC’s main team from the IPL 2020 final. Aakash Chopra rated KL Rahul’s acquisition 14 crores as a ‘theft’ after the franchise failed to buy Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant.
“When they couldn’t take Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, they said they were going to get KL Rahul for Rs 14 crore. An absolute steal. Somebody might say fair price, but I would say an absolute bargain because it is a very small plot and it has a flat tone,” Chopra said.
KL Rahul was the leading run-scorer for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in IPL 2024, scoring 520 runs at a strike rate of 136.12 in 14 innings. In total, he has scored 4,683 runs in 132 IPL matches at an average of 45.47, with 37 fifty-four centuries.
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