IPL 2025: 12 days left for the IPL to start, Delhi has not yet announced the captain; These two players are in the race

The Champions Trophy has concluded and the Indian players have returned home after winning the title. Now all eyes are on the IPL 2025 starting from March 22. Even though the Indian players played together in the Champions Trophy and made the team champion, now these players will be seen playing for their respective IPL teams. This time many teams will look new as compared to the last season. Some teams have also got new captains, but till now Delhi Capitals have not announced their captain. Rishabh Pant was handling the captaincy of Delhi till last season, he is now a part of Lucknow Supergiants.

Axar-Rahul candidates for captaincy

Two important members of the Indian team, all-rounder Axar Patel and wicketkeeper batsman KL Rahul are the two big contenders for the captaincy of Delhi. Rahul was leading Lucknow Supergiants till last season and this time he will play for Delhi. There is not much time left for the start of IPL 2025, so it is believed that the franchise can announce the name of the new captain in the next few days.

Rahul may be out of the first two matches.

Delhi Capitals will hold a short training camp in Delhi before moving to Visakhapatnam for their first two matches. Axar, Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, South Africa's Tristan Stubbs, Australian players Jake Fraser McGurk, and Mitchell Starc will gather in Visakhapatnam on March 17 and 18. Rahul may not play in one or two matches as his wife Athiya Shetty is pregnant and it will depend on the likely date of birth of their first child.

Axar has the upper hand.

Axar, 31, in his seventh season with Delhi Capitals, looks a more likely candidate to lead the team than Rahul. Rahul will join the Delhi team for the first time. Axar has played 150 IPL games and has scored 1653 runs at a strike rate of around 131 and taken 123 wickets at an economy rate of 7.28. Rahul, however, has been the IPL captain for the last few years and has led Punjab Kings and Lucknow Supergiants in the past.

The Lucknow team reached the playoffs twice during his tenure, although he spent most of these seasons injured. Rahul, who will turn 33 on April 18, has scored 4683 runs at a strike-rate of over 134. He has also scored four centuries in 132 matches.