Delhi Capitals couldn’t succeed in re-signing Rishabh Pant in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction on Sunday but won the bidding war for KL Rahul. While DC has found their wicket-keeping replacement, they also need to make a big call on captaincy as Pant was their captain last season. At the conclusion of Day 1, DC co-owner Parth Jindal confirmed the names of these two players in the team: KL Rahul and Axar Patel, though it is still not known which of these stars will officially be holding the position of captain.
DC splashed cash in the auction to buy Australia’s Mitchell Starc for Rs 11.75 crore while India’s wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul was bought for Rs 14 crore.
“We were looking for stability in the top order, someone with experience who can build the innings. And, I think KL Rahul given his record in the IPL is someone who is consistently given more than 400 runs every season. I think with the Kotla wicket, it will be suiting his game. We’re very excited to have him,” Parth Jindal said after the auction.
“We have a very young batting lineup. Both KL and Axar are going to lead them and are going to guide them. KL’s batting and experience will be a vital cog in the wheel,” he further explained, “We just went for the best available talent. We’re looking for a couple more bowlers tomorrow. I think the bowling attack will be very strong. Batting is also strong. Overall, it’s going to be a very competitive squad,” Jindal said.
Delhi Capitals’ first ever mega auction buy is Starc, who was bought by them for Rs 11.75 crore. The left-arm pacer was an integral part of Kolkata Knight Riders’ triumph in IPL 2024. So far in his career, he has taken 193 wickets in 142 T20s.
Rahul, who has been secured for Rs 14 crore, is also an established IPL veteran apart from the fact that he has played in all formats of the game for India. In his T20 career as wicketkeeper-batter, he has amassed 7,586 runs from 226 matches including 65 fifties and six hundreds. He earned the orange cap in the IPL 2020.
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