Rishabh Pant might not lead Delhi Capitals anymore, Axar Patel an option for IPL 2025: Reports

In a major twist ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, Rishabh Pant isn't certain to stay on as the captain of the Delhi Capitals. According to a report in The Times of India, the franchise has begun a search for prospective candidates within the team and outside from those who might participate in the auction.

The report claimed Pant recently met Delhi Capitals' co-owners Parth Jindal and Kiran Kumar Grandhi to discuss his future. It added that despite his cryptic post on X asking his fans for his possible auction price, the franchise will still retain Pant.

All-rounder Axar Patel and spinner Kuldeep Yadav are likely to be the second and third retentions. Patel, who has been Pant's vice-captain for a few seasons, is also being seen as one of the heirs.

"It's just that the leadership group at DC feels that he (Pant) is better off without the pressures of captaincy," TOI cited a source as saying.

The report also suggested that Shreyas Iyer could be one of the options for the franchise, if Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were to release him. But that might take something unprecedented at KKR because Iyer led them to a title after 10 years in IPL 2024.

Iyer also lost captaincy at the Capitals to Pant despite leading them to their best-ever and best-since finish (runners-up) in 2020. The former picked up an injury before the 2021 season and despite being available for the second half, the franchise decided to stick with interim leader Pant.

Pant's captaincy exit would complete an overhaul at Delhi Capitals

If Pant does step down from captaincy, it would mean the team would look completely different in IPL 2025.

Even in the backroom staff, long-time head coach Ricky Ponting was let go off recently and former Tamil Nadu batter Hemang Badani is expected to step in. His erstwhile teammate Venugopal Rao is also likely to come in as the team's director of cricket, replacing Sourav Ganguly.