
IPL | Onus on Rahul, Axar and Starc to spearhead DC’s title quest
The Hindu
Delhi Capitals aim to break IPL hoodoo with new captain and star acquisitions, promising a season of intrigue and potential glory.
Inevitably at the dawn of every Indian Premier League (IPL) season, Delhi Capitals is faced with a familiar, vexing question. Can this be the year when the franchise finally breaks the hoodoo and goes for glory in the summer T20 extravaganza?
Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings, to a lesser extent, are the other two franchises at the receiving end of this recurring query.
DC, runner-up in 2020, hasn’t had a glance at the title since reaching the playoffs in 2021, finishing fifth, ninth and sixth in the standings in 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively.
But therein lies the charm of the IPL: in any given season, teams are matched evenly enough for anyone to conjure up a genuine crack at the title.
Intrigue
Particularly after the latest mega auction, there is a fresh layer of intrigue about how another major shake-up in the playing roster of the ten franchises will play out.
For Delhi, which named Axar Patel as the captain for the 2025 season, the most high-profile acquisitions in the auction were K.L. Rahul, Mitchell Starc and Faf du Plessis.