With Rishabh Pant still recovering from the injuries he sustained during a horrific car crash last year, Delhi Capitals (DC) are likely to announce a new captain for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. David Warner, who is one of the greatest batsmen in the tournament’s history, is likely to lead Delhi in the upcoming season. Axar Patel, who has gone from strength to strength in the last one year, will be Warner’s deputy in IPL 2023.
Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, who recently joined DC as Director of Cricket Operations, had confirmed that Pant will miss IPL 2023.
“Rishabh Pant will not be available for the IPL. I am in connection with Delhi Capitals. It will be a great IPL (for the team), we will do well but Rishabh Pant’s injury will affect the Delhi Capitals,” Ganguly told reporters in January this year.
Pant was appointed as DC skipper midway through the 2021 season after Shreyas Iyer sustained an injury. Pant was involved in a car crash on December 30 while he was returning home and was rushed to the hospital where he underwent surgeries.
Meanwhile, Sunrisers Hyderabad on February 23 announced South African cricketer Aiden Markram as SRH’s new skipper for IPL 2023. In the recently-concluded SA20, Markram had proved his mettle as he not only guided Sunrisers Eastern Cape to a title triumph, but also ended up as the third-highest run-scorer in the tournament with 369 runs. Markram also claimed 11 wickets with his part-time bowling and played a big role in his franchise’s title triumph.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is one of the senior most players in the SRH squad and Mayank Agarwal, who led Punjab Kings (PBKS) in IPL 2022, were also in contention for the captaincy job.
