Ex-India captain Sunil Gavaskar reckons Axar Patel could be the apt choice to lead Delhi Capitals in the near future. India's batting legend was all in praise with his consistent returns with the bat and ball in the recent times.
Patel is already part of the leadership group of the franchise. He was named the team's vice-captain ahead of IPL 2023 with Rishabh Pant ruled out due to an injury. David Warner was named as the stand-in skipper of the side but the Australian hasn't had a convincing run as a skipper so far leading the team to just 2 wins in 7 matches.
Moreover, even though the southpaw has been amongst the runs, accumulating 306 runs from 7 matches, his strike rate has been a matter of concern and stands at less than 120. In contrast, Patel has scored runs at a good rate, coming down the order and even made a difference with the bat.
"I believe Axar Patel should be appointed the captain of Delhi Capitals. He is an honest player. He's in a good rhythm. The Indian team can benefit from him being named the captain of the franchise and performing well. All these things should be done in a long run," Gavaskar told Star Sports Cricket Live.
Meanwhile, Axar has been named in India's 15-member squad for the World Test Championship final 2023 squad. With the summit clash set to be staged at the Oval in London, it would be interesting to see whether he gets a place in the Playing 11 especially since India also have the option to field R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as spin-bowling all-rounders and Shardul Thakur as a pace-bowling all-rounder.
The biggest news though from the squad announcement has been the return of former DC and current CSK star Ajinkya Rahane into the Test setup. Suryakumar Yadav, who failed to impress in the Test series against Australia, has been dropped.