Cricket News: Former SRH skipper to lead Delhi Capitals in Rishabh Pant's absence

In place of usual captain Rishabh Pant, David Warner will captain Delhi Capitals in the upcoming 16th season of IPL. Pant will miss the entire IPL 2023 due to the severe injuries sustained in the accident he was involved in December 2022.

Thus, the team management has decided that the franchise would be led by the veteran Australian player instead. Warner has been chosen to serve as captain, and Indian all-rounder Axar Patel will serve as his backup.

Axar has been in outstanding shape in all competitions and has been dominating the current Border Gavaskar Trophy. Being a great all-rounder who contributes equally with the bat and the ball, Axar Patel has made a name for himself.

While before the IPL 2022 mega auction, the Sunrisers Hyderabad released him, and Delhi Capitals snagged Warner for INR 6.25 crore. He performed admirably and lived up to the team's expectations while playing the opener.

Warner scored 432 runs in 12 games last year, including five half-centuries, and brought his highest score of 92*(58) vs SRH. Moreover, Warner has participated in more than ten seasons of the Indian Premier League and 13 different iterations of the competition.

The Australian opener also has the experience of captaining a team as he guided SRH to their maiden IPL trophy in 2016.

However, the franchise has not yet released a formal statement regarding the matter.

But a member of the ownership group of Delhi Capitals told Cricbuzz.

"David will be our captain and Axar Patel will be his deputy,"

David Warner won't have any issue leading Delhi Capitals with Ricky Ponting at his side as the team's head coach.

Warner recently travelled to India for the Test series, but after learning he would miss the entire tour midway through the second Test in Delhi, he went home. The opening batter was picked to Australia's 16-person team on Thursday, February 23, and will play again during the three-match ODI series.

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