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IPL 2025: Axar Patel likely to be appointed as new Delhi Capitals skipper, say sources

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New Delhi, March 11: After playing a pivotal role in India’s 2025 Champions Trophy triumph with his all-round skills, Axar Patel is now likely to be appointed as the new Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper for the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The all-rounder had stepped in to be DC’s captain in IPL 2024 when his predecessor Rishabh Pant was not allowed to play in a crucial game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) due to an over-rate offence.

“Yes, Axar Patel is likely to be named as Delhi Capitals skipper for IPL 2025. The franchise had asked for KL Rahul to be the team’s captain, but he very much wishes to contribute for the side as a player in the upcoming tournament,” sources told media on Tuesday.

Axar has been with DC since 2019, and was retained for a whopping Rs 18 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. In his IPL career of 150 games, Axar has scored 1653 runs at a strike rate of 130.88 while picking 123 wickets with his left-arm spin bowling at an economy rate of 7.28.

Axar had been India’s vice-captain during their 4-1 T20I series win over England at home this year, but his possible elevation as DC’s captain for IPL 2025 is going to be a major test of his leadership skills, especially with the franchise still looking for their first-ever championship win.

Rahul was also a leadership contender after being roped in by the franchise for Rs 14 crore at the mega auction last year. The wicketkeeper-batter had previously led Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for two seasons each in the IPL, with the latter entering the playoffs in 2022 and 2023 season under his leadership.

But as per the sources, he will now feature for DC minus the leadership role. DC’s opening match of IPL 2025 will be against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam on March 24. The side is scheduled to have a short three-day training camp in New Delhi this week, before leaving for Visakhapatnam on March 17.

National News

Missing partnerships, losing too many wickets in the middle: Salman Agha dissects Pak’s loss to SA in 1st T20I

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New Delhi, Oct 29: Pakistan’s T20I captain Salman Agha was quite critical of his team’s performance in a 55-run loss to South Africa in the T20I series opener and pointed out that the team middel order failed to build partnerships.

Pakistan faced a 55-run defeat in the T20I series opener, with the Proteas taking a 1-0 lead. Chasing a target of 195, Pakistan was dismissed for 139 in 18.1 overs, hindered by a disciplined bowling effort from Corbin Bosch and George Linde. The loss highlighted Pakistan’s ongoing challenge in forming meaningful partnerships, a point Agha focused on during the post-match presentation.

“We started well. We didn’t start well when it comes to bowling but we pull things back. With the batting, we are losing too many wickets in the middle and we need to fix that and we need to make a quick turnaround from the previous time. I think we just need to do proper batting shift.

“We didn’t start well with the ball, but we pulled things back. With the batting, we are losing wickets quickly, and we need to have a quick turnaround. We have to take singles and doubles and make partnerships and the partnerships are missing right now in the middle. If we have good partnerships, then we can chase these kinds of totals. But right now, we are just losing too many wickets in the middle and that’s costing us a game as well,” he said.

Agha was also disappointed with his bowlers, saying that they didn’t do well in the powerplay. He noted that the wicket was one where, had they bowled on top of the off stump, it would’ve benefited them. However, he acknowledged that the bowlers failed to do so, which led to the visitors posting a big total.

“I think we didn’t bowl well when it comes to powerplay. We didn’t start it well, and I think it’s the kind of wicket that if we had bowled right on top of the off stump, it would’ve been good enough. But we didn’t bowl well. But we bowled really well when it comes to bowling in the middle overs and that’s positive for us.”

The two teams now feature in the second T20I at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Friday. The third and final T20I of the series will also be staged at the same venue on Saturday.

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National News

Happened quite organically: Marsh on Australia adopting aggressive approach in T20Is

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Canberra, Oct 28: Australia skipper Mitch Marsh spoke about the team’s newly adopted aggressive approach ahead of their first T20I against reigning World Champions India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, and said the bold new style had developed organically, driven by the team’s personnel.

Australia’s new strategy in the shortest format will be put to the test by the visitors as the two sides gear up for a five-match T20I series down under. When the teams start their series here on Wednesday, the venue will be a hostile ground for the hosts, as passionate India supporters are expected to turn a sold-out Manuka Oval into a sea of blue, like they did during the recently concluded final ODI of the three-match series.

Since their dismal second consecutive T20 World Cup exit in 2024, Australia have adopted a more aggressive, quick-scoring approach, leading to 12 wins in their last 13 matches. Marsh has played a crucial role in that success, as his aggressive approach during powerplays at the top of the order has helped lay the groundwork for Australia’s winning streak.

“I think that’s happened quite organically, to be honest, just with the personnel we’ve got in the team. We had two World Cups where we didn’t quite go all the way, and I guess we spoke about wanting to change ourselves as a team to what we think can win us a World Cup. And as a batting unit, we have played a lot more aggressively.

“I think that’s been the nature of T20 cricket for a lot of teams over the last few years. We’re not gonna get it right every time. We will fail. But if we’re clear on how we wanna go about it, that gives us the best chance for success,” Marsh told reporters ahead of the T20I series opener.

However, India presents a more formidable challenge than Australia has encountered since their style change. The visitors have secured 17 wins in their last 19 T20 matches and are heavily favoured to win the forthcoming series and to defend the World Cup title when they hosts it in 2026.

“I know that we’ve got eight games to go for us, and we’re really building nicely with the way we want to play and go about it. We feel great at the moment, but we know there’s going to be a big series coming up,” he added.

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National News

Shreyas Iyer admitted to Sydney hospital after left rib cage injury, to be assessed by specialists

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New Delhi, Oct 27: India’s ODI vice-captain Shreyas Iyer has been admitted to a Sydney hospital after suffering a left rib cage injury in Saturday’s match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Sources aware of the development have told media that Iyer, who has been in ICU after being taken quickly to the hospital on Saturday by the BCCI medical team, is expected to be further assessed by specialists on Monday, who would promptly decide on his path to recovery.

It is also understood that Iyer’s major vitals like blood pressure were fluctuating dangerously, which meant the Indian team medical staff took him to the hospital right away.

“At the hospital, scans revealed internal bleeding due to the fall’s impact and on discovering that, Iyer was immediately admitted to prevent the risk of infection spreading to other vital organs.

“Based on what the specialists say after assessing him, he could spend more days in ICU or be under their close observation for maybe a week. His family is also kept in the loop and if needed, they could go to Sydney to be by his side,” said sources.

The incident occurred in the 33rd over of Australia’s innings when Alex Carey miscued a short ball from seam-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana. Stationed at backward point, Iyer sprinted back with the ball swirling overhead and launched himself full length to complete a tumbling catch near deep third man.

The effort gave India a crucial wicket, but Iyer remained on the ground clutching his left side in visible discomfort. After that, with support from team-mates and physio Kamlesh Jain, Iyer walked off the field and didn’t come back for the remainder of the innings, as Australia were bowled out for 236 in 46.4 overs.

In reply, India chased down the target easily, thanks to an unbeaten 168-run stand between Rohit Sharma (121 not out) and Virat Kohli (74 not out). Iyer, 31, is not a part of India’s T20I squad for the subsequent series against Australia, starting on Wednesday.

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