New Delhi [India], March 14 (ANI): Indian all-rounder Axar Patel has been appointed as Delhi Capitals (DC) captain ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season, with the spin bowling all-rounder having a key task ahead of him to not only fill up former skipper Rishabh Pant's gigantic shoes but also guide the team to their first-ever title.

The 31-year-old initially joined the Capitals in 2019 and has since emerged as one of the top-performing players for the franchise across the six seasons with his ability to step up to the occasion. In the 82 matches he has donned the red and blue of the Capitals, Patel has scored 967 runs and picked up 62 wickets at an impressive economy of 7.09. Apart from being a live wire on the field, the all-rounder has also developed a special rapport with the Capitals' and the Indian national team's fans. He is also a T20 World Cup 2024, and ICC Champions Trophy 2025 winner with Team India and has played a crucial role with both bat and ball in these triumphs.

Axar does have some captaincy experience across all forms of cricket. In the IPL, Axar was DC's vice-captain last season and led the side once against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the absence of Pant who was serving a slow over-rate suspension. DC lost that match to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by 47 runs. Axar took 0/24 and scored a quickfire 57 in 39 balls in a 188-run chase.

The all-rounder has captained Gujarat's under-19 cricket team 13 times from October 2012 to January 2013, including the Vinoo Mankad Trophy and Cooch Behar Trophy, in both limited-overs and red-ball cricket respectively. In the 2012-13 Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Inter-Zonal tournament, he led West Zone U19s to four wins in four matches and the title, scoring 98 runs and getting seven wickets in the competition, as per Wisden.

His first experience as captain on the senior level came during the Vijay Hazare Trophy in December 2015 in 50-over cricket. He had by then already played two IPL seasons with Punjab Kings and played both ODIs and T20Is for India. In 10 overs against Karnataka for Gujarat, he took 2/33, but his side lost the game.

Since then, Axar has captained mostly in T20s. He did captained Gujarat in two Ranji Trophy matches in 2016-17 before leading them in the 2017-18 and 2020-21 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy seasons. However, these experiences were not the most pleasant ones as both times his team made a group stage exit.

He also led Gujarat in last year's Syed Ali Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Despite winning six out of their seven matches, luck was not in his side's favour as the better net run rate pushed Baroda and Saurashtra ahead.

In all, Axar has led in 24 matches across all formats, winning 12, losing 10 and two matches ended in a draw. Out of 17 matches he has captained in T20s, Axar has won 10 and lost seven. (ANI)