Published on: Nov 12, 2026 12:59 pm IST|Updated on: Nov 12, 2026 12:59 pm IST
The Delhi Capitals are facing a leadership dilemma ahead of IPL 2027, as current skipper Axar Patel is reportedly not willing to take up the captaincy role for the forthcoming season. Despite the management shutting down trade offers for the star all-rounder to keep him in the squad, convincing him to retain the captaincy has become a major challenge for the team owners.
Axar was appointed the captain of the Delhi Capitals in the 2025 season but failed to take the team to the playoffs for two consecutive seasons. The team missed the playoffs narrowly twice in as many years, finishing fifth in 2025 and slipping to sixth in the last season.
The pressure of captaincy seemed to weigh heavily on Axar Patel in the past two IPL seasons. His individual performances with both bat and ball dropped gradually. Talking about his numbers in the last season, Axar played 14 games and could only manage 173 runs with a solitary fifty. With the ball, he could only manage 11 wickets, which is too low given his standards.
Furthermore, Delhi Capitals recently underwent a significant overhaul in their coaching setup. The franchise parted ways with former head coach Hemang Badani, bowling coach Munaf Patel, and director of cricket Venugopal Rao, bringing Sourav Ganguly back into the fold as head coach alongside Yuvraj Singh as assistant coach and batting coach. The new management has its own plans, and Axar Patel seems skeptical about whether his captaincy style would go hand in hand with the new management’s vision for the team.
Explaining the current standoff inside the camp, a franchise source told The Times of India:
“Axar is very reluctant to continue as captain. The management is trying to convince him. Axar is very important to the franchise. Capitals have turned down multiple lucrative trade offers this season. The management has held back finalising the captain till the auctions are done.”
With the November 17 retention deadline in focus, the Delhi Capitals have little time to finalize their leadership. While the management still backs Axar Patel to continue, they do have two high-profile names in Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul to lead the side if Axar relinquishes the captaincy.
Pant has prior experience of leading the Delhi franchise and has also led the Lucknow Super Giants in the last two seasons of the Tata IPL. Meanwhile, KL Rahul is another proven leader in the league as he has led multiple franchises, including Kings XI Punjab and the Lucknow Super Giants, in the past.
“Pant doesn’t want to think too much about captaincy. Even Rahul hasn’t expressed any real interest yet. But the management will have to talk to them if Axar stays firm on his decision.”
Whether Axar agrees to lead the side under a new management led by head coach Sourav Ganguly, or whether Delhi turns back to Pant or Rahul, will be decided once the squad is finalized after the December 16 mini-auction in Goa.