India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik has said that it is a good chance for Axar Patel to showcase his leadership skills as a vice-captain to Suryakumar Yadav in the upcoming T20I series against England while revealing that he will lead the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025. Although an official announcement is yet to be made, the revelation from Karthik is a big one nonetheless.

Axar, who has been with Delhi for the last six years, was retained for a whopping Rs 18 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.

Axar was named as Suryakumar's deputy for the England T20I series, even as the selectors ignored Hardik Pandya, who was once touted as Rohit Sharma's replacement as T20I captain.

“For Axar Patel, all the very best (for India vice-captaincy). A good opportunity for him. He is going to be the Delhi Capitals’ captain as well. So here is a good opportunity for him to lead and show the way. He has been doing that for Gujarat as well," Karthik said while speaking on Cricbuzz.

Axar's appointment as skipper means KL Rahul, a seasoned IPL captain, will play as a specialist batter for the first time in five years. Rahul, signed by Delhi for a whopping Rs 14 crore, brings immense experience. He led the Punjab Kings in 2020 and 2021 and the Lucknow Super Giants from 2022-24.

While Rahul has excelled as an opener for both Punjab and Lucknow, he has shown his adaptability in the middle order for the Indian side, where he bats at No. 5 in ODIs.

Notably, if Axar becomes the captain, even Faf du Plessis, who led the Royal Challengers Bangalore for three seasons, will also be playing as a specialist batter. The Protean was picked by Delhi for his base price of Rs 2 crore.

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