KL Rahul, who had prior captaincy experiences in the cash-rich tournament with Indian Premier Leguae, has reportedly denied a similar role in his new team, the Delhi Capitals. As per reports, he asked the franchise to try a new face, which makes Axar Patel an automatic choice for captaincy. KL Rahul, earlier a part of Lucknow Supergiants, had led Punjab Kings and had been a phenomenal opener there. After his leg with Punjab, he shifted to the newly formed franchise, where he was seen in an animated, heated conversation with team owner Sanjiv Goenka after the team lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad. In the 2025 IPL Mega Auction, Rahul joined DC, as the team got him for INR 14 crores. Meanwhile, Axar Patel does not have as such captaincy experience but had led Delhi when Rishabh Pant, the then cpatin, was suspended for a match against RCB due to slow overrate. Axar will have his seventh year with DC in 2024 and is a frontrunner for the captaincy responsibilities. On Tuesday, a source told the IANS, “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." Read also: 'Didn't get recognition after leading KKR to IPL win': Shreyas Iyer Axar's Captaincy, Rahul's Absence Axar Patel, a key Delhi Capitals (DC) player since 2019, was retained for ₹18 crore ahead of IPL 2025. In 150 IPL games, he has scored 1,653 runs at a strike rate of 130.88 and taken 123 wickets at an economy of 7.28. After serving as India's vice-captain in their 4-1 T20I win over England, Axar's potential DC captaincy will be a major leadership test as the team chases its first title. Meanwhile, KL Rahul may miss a few games as he awaits his first child. DC is slated to commence their IPL 2025 campaign against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam on March 24. Ahead of their tournament opener, the team will undergo a brief yet intensive three-day training camp in New Delhi before departing for Visakhapatnam on March 17.