3 players who can captain DC against RCB in place of Rishabh Pant ft. Axar Patel
The Delhi Capitals (DC) have received a major blow ahead of their IPL 2024 match against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Their skipper Rishabh Pant has been suspended for a match because of slow over rate.
Pant played a major role in DC's rise this season. The wicketkeeper-batter has aggregated 413 runs in 12 innings, standing 11th on the leaderboard of the most successful batters in IPL 2024. His captaincy and wicketkeeping have helped the DC team a lot as well.
Unfortunately for the Capitals, their skipper will be unavailable for the crucial IPL 2024 league match against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. DC have multiple wicketkeepers in their team who can take up the glovesman's duties for the match against RCB, but finding a replacement for captaincy might be tough. Here's a list of three candidates for the role.
#1 Axar Patel
Axar Patel was Delhi Capitals' vice-captain in IPL 2023. The all-rounder has never captained an IPL franchise before, but he has enormous experience of playing IPL as well as international cricket.
Last year, Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar suggested DC to appoint Patel as the skipper when Rishabh Pant was unavailable and David Warner struggled to bring the best out of the team.
“I believe Axar Patel should be appointed the captain of Delhi Capitals. He is an honest player. He's in a good rhythm. The Indian team can benefit from him being named the captain of the franchise and performing well. All these things should be done in a long run," Gavaskar had said.
Patel can play the stand-in skipper's role well and lead Delhi Capitals to a win in this IPL 2024 match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
#2 Former DC captain David Warner
The obvious choice for this role would have been David Warner, but the Australian opener has had a forgettable IPL 2024 season. Plus, he did not have a great season as DC's skipper in 2023. Most importantly, Warner was not a part of the playing XI in Delhi's last match against Rajasthan Royals.
If Warner returns to the playing XI as the skipper, the Capitals will have to leave out either Jake Fraser McGurk, Gulbadin Naib, Shai Hope or Tristan Stubbs out of the team. It will be interesting to see if the Delhi-based franchise brings in Warner for this match as the captain.
#3 Ishant Sharma
It might raise a few eyebrows to see Ishant Sharma's name on this list, but the fast bowler is among the most experienced players in IPL 2024. Sharma has been with Delhi Capitals for quite some time now. He has led the Indian team's pace attack at point in his career, and he could receive a surprise promotion for the match against RCB.
Coach Ricky Ponting can make the decisions for the batting order from the dugout, while captain Ishant can decide the bowling changes and fielding placements. Considering how successful fast bowlers have been as captains of late, Delhi will think of handing the reins of the side to Ishant.