Seasoned Australian opener David Warner will lead the Delhi Capitals in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 in absence of regular skipper Rishabh Pant, who suffered a traumatic car accident last year.
With Pant still on recovery after his surgery and being ruled out of IPL 2023, Delhi was left without a leader. Axar Patel was a potential captaincy candidate but the management eventually decided to entrust the more experienced Warner with the job, a Cricbuzz report said.
The report further said that the franchise also considered the point that Pant will be back next year and the choice of Warner as the captain was also influenced by the fact that Ricky Ponting is their coach.
"David will be our captain and Axar Patel will be his deputy," said a member of the ownership group of Delhi Capitals. Warner, who was part of the Australian side in the first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, is currently back home in Sydney after having suffered a hairline fracture on his elbow.
But on Thursday, Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed that the left-hander will be part of the three match ODI series that follow the BGT. As far as IPL captaincy is concerned, the 36-year old has led Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL previously.
Warner, who led SRH for four and half seasons and had even led them to the title in 2016 before he had to part ways with the franchise after a bitter fallout in 2021.