KL Rahul to become Delhi Capitals' captain for IPL 2026? Franchise shocks

Published - 16 Nov 2025, 11:03 AM | Updated - 16 Nov 2025, 11:04 AM

KL Rahul, Delhi Capitals. Image Credit: X

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Delhi Capitals (DC) have dropped a bombshell a day after the IPL 2026 retentions, with the auction all set to be held at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Capitals have shocked the fans with a dramatic post featuring KL Rahul, dropping a hint about a change in the leadership.

After they failed to acquire both Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant at the 2025 mega auction, the Delhi-based franchise handed the captaincy to Axar Patel, and they had a great start under the Indian all-rounder. However, DC’s IPL 2025 campaign fell off track in the second phase.

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Delhi Capitals trigger captaincy storm with dramatic KL Rahul post

After narrowly missing out on the playoffs last season, the change in the captaincy is well on the cards for the Delhi Capitals. The franchise shared a video on X (formerly Twitter), featuring KL Rahul, that took social media by storm.

This clip started with Rahul’s jersey and then featured several moments from training sessions to photoshoots, and interactions with the fans.

However, it was DC’s caption that is seen in many ways, as they wrote: “Picture abhi baaki hai, Dilliwalon 🎬💙.” This left many to wonder whether the Capitals are all set to name Rahul as their new captain after the retentions were announced for the upcoming IPL 2026.

Picture abhi baaki hai, Dilliwalon 🎬💙 pic.twitter.com/r8Sb4gCx1o
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) November 15, 2025

KL Rahul reveals IPL captaincy left him exhausted

However, Rahul’s recent statement suggested that he is not interested in the IPL captaincy again after falling out with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka. He is currently playing in the two-match Test series opener against South Africa at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

KL Rahul said on Humans of Bombay: “What I found hard as a captain in the IPL was the number of meetings that you needed to do, the number of reviews that you needed to do, and the number of things that you needed to explain at the ownership level. All of that is really like energy draining."

"So, I realized at the end of IPL that I am more mentally and physically drained than after playing 10 months of international cricket.”

The Indian batter further explained, “There are so many things. Coaches and captains, you’re just constantly being asked a lot of questions, and after a point, it almost feels like you’re being questioned as to why you made this change. Why did Jatin play in the XI? Why is it that the opposition got 200, and we couldn’t even get 120? Why are their bowlers getting more spin?”

Meanwhile, the Capitals have retained a total of 16 players and released six players with one trade deal ahead of the IPL 2026 auction.

Delhi Capitals Retained Players:

Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Ajay Mandal, Tripurana Vijay, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Rana (traded in from RR)