Prior to the 2025 Indian Premier League season, the Delhi Capitals (DC) want to undertake significant changes. They have already parted ways with longtime head coach Ricky Ponting, and Munaf Patel, who will presumably take over as bowling coach, will soon join the team. However, nobody anticipated that they would replace Rishabh Pant as captain before the big auction. Axar Patel is the front-runner for the leadership position that DC is seeking to fill. For the Capitals, the all-around player has been producing consistently, particularly in the IPL 2023 season when Pant was not available. He wasn't the captain back then, but he could be the captain now. However, DC hasn't ruled out selecting a foreign player to lead the team. 

The Delhi Capitals will select Rishabh Pant as their first retention, even if they haven't named him captain (Rs 18 crore). Pant would do better, in the opinion of DC management, if he weren't the team captain.