IPL 2025, DC SWOT analysis: Will Axar Patel's captaincy revive Delhi Capitals' fortunes?
Delhi Capitals aim for their first IPL title in 2025, led by Axar Patel after releasing Rishabh Pant.
FollowImage Credit: ANI
IPL 2025: Delhi Capitals will begin their quest for maiden IPL title when they take on Lucknow Super Giants at the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) Stadium on Monday, March 24.
Delhi Capitals are one of the three original teams, alongside Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings to have not won an IPL title since the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2008. DC had a chance to win the elusive title in 2020, but lost to Mumbai Indians in the final. In the last three seasons, Delhi Capitals failed to qualify for the playoffs. Ahead of the IPL 2025, Delhi-based franchise made a shocking decision to release Rishabh Pant while retaining Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs and Abhishek Porel. At the IPL 2025 Auction, DC strengthened their bench by signing talented players to the squad.
Last week, Axar Patel was appointed as the Delhi Capitals’ captain, succeeding Rishabh Pant. With a fresh squad and new captain, will the Capitals’ fortunes change and win the maiden IPL title? On that note, let’s take a look at the team’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
SWOT analysis of Delhi Capitals:
Image Credit: ANI
Strengths
Delhi Capitals have a strong batting line-up: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, and Tristan Stubbs. The batting line-up doesn’t look weak even after Harry Brook pulled out of the season for the second consecutive time. Fraser-McGurk and du Plessis are hard hitters who can unleash their firepower at the top, while Rahul and Stubbs can bring stability to the middle order. Meanwhile, Karun Nair was in impressive form in the recently concluded Indian cricket domestic season, where he scored nine centuries, and it is a big positive for DC management as they look to strengthen their middle order with an in-form batter, who can anchor the innings when needed.
Another strength of the Capitals lies in the pace bowling attack led by Mitchell Starc. Apart from Starc, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Mohit Sharma, and Dushmantha Chameera form a strong pace bowling unit. The big plus point is that the team has death bowling options whom they can rely on, with Starc and Natarajan bringing vast experience of executing yorkers. Mohit and Mukesh have the ability to swing the ball early on, while Chameera has a raw pace.
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Weaknesses
Delhi Capitals do not have a depth in the all-rounder unit. Axar Patel is an experienced all-rounder, given his experience of playing in IPL and for Team India. Apart from the captain, DC does not have a reliable all-rounder who can contribute significantly with both bat and ball. This could hurt Delhi Capitals, considering the importance of all-rounders in providing balance to the team, especially in a long tournament like IPL, where squad depth and versatility play a pivotal role during different match situations.
Another big concern or weakness for Delhi Capitals is that they have only one frontline spinner in Kuldeep Yadav. This is quite surprising that DC do not have a specialist spin bowler backup if Kuldeep suffers an injury or struggles to take wickets. Having only one frontline spinner will not only leave Capitals vulnerable, especially on slow pitches, but also put additional pressure on pace bowling attack and Axar Patel, who might have to take extra burden of handling the spin department singlehandedly. This lack of depth in spin bowling is likely to be exploited by the opposition, particularly against teams that play spin well, even on spin tracks.
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Opportunities
This is the big opportunity for Axar Patel to fill in the big shoes left by Rishabh Pant, who will be leading Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2025. Axar already has leadership experience as he was the vice-captain of DC in the last two seasons and also led the teams across all age group levels of domestic tournaments. So, the 31-year-old has good captaincy credentials under his belt and has the chance to prove his leadership skills. If he guides Delhi Capitals to maiden IPL title, it could further strengthen his reputation as a captain and potentially open doors to take up captaincy duties in Team India in the future.
Another opportunity for Delhi Capitals is to try talented players and give them chances at the right in order to get a better exposure of playing the IPL. The young players including Sameer Rizvi, Abhishek Porel, Tripurana Vijay, Ajay Mandal, and to name a few could benefit from valuable and gain experience at the highest level.
Image Credit: ANI
Threats
One of the biggest threats is that most of the pace bowlers are in their 30s and could struggle with fitness and workload management during the long tournament. Starc, Natarajan, and Chameera have injury concerns in the past, and any setbacks to them could significantly weaken the DC’s pace bowling attack. Given the intensity of the tournament and gruelling scheduling for two months, managing their workload and assisting them with proper recovery after every match will be crucial to ensure that they remain fit and effective throughout the tournament.
Another threat has always been a struggle to maintain inconsistent results despite having a strong squad on paper. Over the past few years, DC have struggled to maintain momentum throughout the season. Oftentimes, Capitals had picked up the momentum in the latter stages of the tournament, but failed to capitalize on crucial moments. The big challenge for Axar Patel and DC management is to ensure that the team finds rhythm early in the season and maintains it throughout the tournament in order to prevent another disappointing campaign.
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