Faf du Plessis will serve as Axar Patel’s deputy at Delhi Capitals (DC) for IPL 2025. Du Plessis, who captained Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) until IPL 2024, was released before the mega auction and acquired by DC for his base price of INR 2 crore (USD 0.24 million). DC chose him over KL Rahul, another former IPL captain who also joined them this year.
Du Plessis, a former South Africa captain across formats, joined the IPL in 2012 after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) signed him. He stayed with CSK until 2015, then moved to Rising Pune Supergiant for two seasons when CSK faced suspension. He returned to CSK and remained until 2021 before RCB bought him in 2022. With Virat Kohli stepping down as RCB’s captain, du Plessis took charge. He led the team for three seasons, guiding them to the playoffs in 2022 and 2024, but RCB still seeks its first IPL title.
In his IPL career, du Plessis has scored 4571 runs in 145 matches at an average of 35.99 and a strike rate of 136.37. He continues to feature in franchise leagues and recently played for Joburg Super Kings in the SA20. Southern Brave, now owned by the GMR Group, which also owns DC, is exploring a deal to bring him into The Hundred.
DC, still searching for their maiden IPL title, revamped their setup by replacing Ricky Ponting with Hemang Badani as head coach. They also appointed Matthew Mott as assistant coach, Kevin Pietersen as team mentor, and added Munaf Patel, Venugopal Rao, and Vijay Bharadwaj to the support staff. Axar Patel earned the captaincy after DC overhauled their setup. Rishabh Pant, their previous captain, re-entered the auction and joined Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), where he took over as captain.
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