KL Rahul's 1st Reaction On Axar Patel Being Made Delhi Capitals Captain For IPL 2025

India star all-rounder Axar Patel, who had a great Champions Trophy 2025 s a No. 5 batter and as a spinner too, was on Friday named captain of Delhi Capitals for IPL. He pipped another heavyweight contender KL Rahul, who has joined the team this season. Currently team's longest serving player, having played six seasons for Delhi since 2019, the 31-year-old was DC's top retention for INR 16.50 crore ahead of the mega auction last November. In 82 games for Delhi, he has scored 967 runs and picked up 62 wickets at a fantastic economy rate of shade over 7.

KL Rahul has now reacted on Axar becoming the Delhi Capitals captain.

"Congrats Bapu. Wishing you the best in this journey and always with you," KL Rahul wrote on Delhi Capitals' Instagram post announcing Axar Patel as the captain. 

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While his IPL captaincy experience is limited, he led Gujarat in domestic cricket including the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2024-25.

He also served as India's T20I vice-captain earlier this year and in their recent triumph in Champions Trophy Axar played a key role, taking five wickets at an economy of 4.35. He also played a key role at No 5 and scored 109 runs at 27.25.

"It is my absolute honour to captain the Delhi Capitals, and I'm deeply grateful to our owners and support staff for placing their faith in me," stated Axar in a media release.

Axar will replace Rishabh Pant at the helm with the flamboyant keeper-batter exiting the franchise before the mega auction, and will now lead Lucknow Super Giants.

The team has seasoned players like Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Faf du Plessis, and Mitchell Starc in the leadership group, and it remains to be seen how Axar brings out the best in them to drive