Delhi Capitals Captaincy Options After Poor Start Under Skipper David Warner In IPL 2023

DC, who named Warner as captain ahead of the season after regular skipper Rishabh Pant was ruled out due to injuries sustained in a car crash, has opened their IPL 2023 campaign with four defeats in four outings so far.

With Pant being ruled out for an indefinite period, DC named Warner, who had a decent record as captain in the Indian Premier League, as skipper for the 2023 season with Axar Patel serving as his deputy.

Warner had a decent record as captain in IPL, having led his former franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad to the title in 2016. In his 69 matches as captain before this season started, Warner had a win percentage of over 50 thanks to 35 wins.

But his start to life as the leader of DC, who are in search of their first IPL title, has been a struggle as his team have succumbed to defeats in all their outings so far.

DC opened IPL 2023 with a 50-run loss to Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow before a 6-wicket loss to defending champions Gujarat Titans at home. The Delhi-based side then lost away to Rajasthan Royals by 57 runs followed by the recent 6-wicket loss to Mumbai Indians at home.

The Delhi outfit still have time to turnaround their season, but it’s becoming incredibly unlikely under the leadership of Warner. The captaincy may have added more weight on his shoulders.

Although Warner has been among the runs, the Australian opener has struggled to score them at ease, striking only at a mediocre 114.83, which may be due to the added pressure of captaincy. He has scored 209 runs including 3 fifties in the four innings so far.

But if DC team management decide that Warner could break the shackles playing in the team as just the batter and not the captain, then they may be limited for options with no player assured as starter.

DC Captaincy Options To Replace Warner

Should DC decide to remove Warner from his role as captain, they don’t have many options to lead the team due to the lack of a genuine starter or a regular player of the Indian cricket team.

The only realistic option they have is Axar, who is already serving as the vice captain of the team. The all-rounder has also continued his form with the bat, but has failed to deliver with ball.

Apart from Axar, DC could go for West Indies T20 skipper Rovman Powell, but with only four overseas players allowed to feature in the team and the West Indian’s spot in the team also up in the air, DC may need to look any of the regular or guaranteed starters.

The other options could be Mitchell Marsh and Rilee Rossouw, but even they come under the overseas category, forcing to look at the Indian options. The only two Indian options apart from Axar, will be Prithvi Shaw and Kuldeep Yadav.

Shaw has experience of leading the Mumbai domestic team and also the India under 19 team. Kuldeep, on the other hand, has not led in any match or team of note so far. So, that leaves DC to persist with Warner or opt for Axar for the rest of the season.