Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Dinesh Karthik has backed Axar Patel to be Delhi Capitals’ captain for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League after the franchise didn’t retain Rishabh Pant. Patel has been appointed as India’s vice-captain for the five-match T20I series against England.
The all-rounder has been a consistent performer for Delhi Capitals and he was retained ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. Patel has scored 1653 runs in 150 IPL matches at an average of 21.47 and he has scalped 123 wickets in the lucrative Twenty20 tournament.
Karthik shared his surprise that Hardik Pandya has not been appointed as Suryakumar Yadav’s deputy in the shortest format as he was leading India in the absence of Rohit Sharma before the T20 World Cup 2024.
“I really don’t know. I don’t know why he (Hardik Pandya) was stripped of his vice-captaincy. I don’t see any reason to. They have done well. They have won in the bilaterals that he was the vice-captain. Not a clue,” Dinesh Karthik said on HeyCB, Cricbuzz.
“But for Axar Patel, all the very best. A good opportunity for him. Third, he is going to be the Delhi Capitals’ captain as well. So here is a good opportunity for him to lead and show the way. He has been doing that for Gujarat as well. So, wish him all the luck,“ he added.
Delhi Capitals had also bagged the services of KL Rahul for INR 14 crore in IPL 2025 mega auction. Rahul has the experience of leading Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL and he could also be one of the leadership options.
Earlier, Delhi Capitals’ co-owner Parth Jindal had revealed that Axar Patel could be a captaincy contender for IPL 2025.
“It’s a bit premature to talk about the captaincy. Axar Patel has been with the franchise for a very long time and he was the vice-captain for the last cycle, so we don’t know whether it’s going to be Axar or whether it’s going to be somebody else,” Jindal had said.
IPL 2025 will kick off at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on March 21.
