3 players DC should retain ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction Ft. Pant

Delhi Capitals (DC) have not reached the playoffs in the last three seasons.

Delhi Capitals (DC) are one of the three teams who have played all 17 Indian Premier League (IPL) seasons and have not won a single title yet. They have even failed to reach the playoffs in the last three seasons. They would want to end this drought in the 18th edition of the competition next year.

While preparing for the IPL 2025 season, DC need to get their auction strategy right, something they have faltered in doing in recent years.

For the upcoming mega auction, each team can retain up to six players through retentions and the Right To Match (RTM) option, with a maximum of five capped and a maximum of two uncapped players.

So, who will the Capitals retain? In this article, we will discuss the three most probable retentions for Delhi ahead of the mega auction.

Three players DC should retain ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction Ft. Pant

1. Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant, who made his IPL debut in 2016, has played all his career for the Delhi franchise. He showed great leadership qualities when he marched his side to the top of the points table in the IPL 2021 season in Shreyas Iyer’s injury-forced absence. And then, DC retained him as their skipper over Iyer, who then left the franchise.

In IPL 2024, after returning from a long injury break, Pant finished as Delhi’s top scorer and stormed back into India’s playing XIs in all three formats. His team, though, missed a spot in the playoffs because of lower net run rate.

Pant, a keeper-captain and a destructive left-handed middle-order batsman, is expected to be retained in the highest bracket by Delhi Capitals.

2. Axar Patel

Axar Patel’s exploits in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, which helped India win a long-awaited ICC title, were a testament to his improved and varied skillset as an all-rounder. He is a match-winner with both bat and ball but had been underutilized as a batter by the Capitals.

He has been a key player for DC and is one of the first names on the team sheet. Which is why, he should be retained by the franchise.

3. Kuldeep Yadav

After suffering a dip in form from 2019 to 2021, Kuldeep Yadav’s career has been revived in the last three years and is now a first-choice spinner for his IPL franchise as well as for the Indian team in white-ball cricket.

His ability to take wickets with his variations makes him a must-have bowler in the side. He has been with DC since 2022 and has taken 47 wickets in 39 matches. Kuldeep is one of the core players for the franchise, which is why he should be retained by the side ahead of the mega auction.

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