Delhi Capitals will kick off their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 campaign against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on March 24 (Monday) at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. There’s heightened interest around the clash, with KL Rahul, former LSG captain, now part of the DC squad, while Rishabh Pant, who led DC until this season, is now in the LSG camp. However, KL Rahul may miss the opening match for both sides this season.
KL Rahul is likely to miss DC’s inaugural match against his former franchise, LSG for personal reasons. It’s worth mentioning that Rahul and his wife Athiya Shetty are expecting their first child.
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Delhi, who have not won an IPL trophy in 17 seasons, handed the captaincy over to Axar over KL Rahul. As per the ESPNCricinfo Ahead of the clash, captain Axar Patel remained skeptical about the availability of star Indian batter and said that for “personal” reasons, KL Rahul may or may not play the match.
“Obviously, he joined the team,” Axar said of Rahul’s availability. “We don’t know yet [if he’ll play]. Right now we don’t know if he is available or not,” Axar said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
Axar Patel Confident Of Delhi Capitals Squad
Axar expressed confidence in the Delhi Capitals, saying he has grown as a cricketer with the franchise since 2019. Calling it an honour to lead the side, he highlighted the presence of experienced players like Faf du Plessis and KL Rahul, adding that the team is well-balanced and determined to turn things around this season.
“I am very confident about the Delhi Capitals team. I am playing since 2019 for Delhi Capitals and I have grown as a cricketer in this franchise. It’s an honour for me to lead this franchisee and there are many leaders in our team. So from them I get that experience and they are there for me. Faf is there, KL is there and many experienced players are there. So we have a good balanced team. And we will change the results this time.”
