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Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Hemang Badani on Monday reaffirmed his confidence in Axar Patel as the franchise's captain for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, highlighting the importance of continuity and familiarity at the top amid a history of frequent leadership changes.
"I can't really speak of what's happened in the past because I haven't been a part of this environment. I have been with them since last year. As Veenu (Venugopal Rao) mentioned, we had to look at somebody who has been with us, who understands the people, understands the fans, understands the ground, the environment, the management and it was quite straightforward for us that Axar was the man. And hence we have also again tried to stick with him. I thought we had a very, very good season," he said at a press conference Badani said Axar's deep understanding of the team environment and strong connection with the fans make him the ideal choice to lead Delhi Capitals once again. "And he's been around for a long time. And also a long-standing Delhiite, Delhi Capitals boy. No better person to lead the side than him. And here again, he's here as the leader for us come season two." Last season, Delhi Capitals, who have yet to win an IPL title, finished fifth on the points table, missing out on a playoff berth. With the schedule of the first phase of IPL 2026 announced by BCCI, Delhi Capitals will begin their season campaign against Lucknow Super Giants on April 1. Their next clash will be against the Mumbai Indians on April 4, followed by their matches against the Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings on April 8 and April 11, respectively. Asked about Pakistan Cricket Board's decision that PSL 2026 will be held without spectators due to the ongoing West Asia crisis and any impact of the crisis on the franchisees, he said BCCI is keeping an eye on the developments. Delhi Capitals squad for IPL 2026: Nitish Rana, Abishek Porel, Ajay Mandal, Ashutosh Sharma, Axar Patel, Dushmantha Chameera, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc, Sameer Rizvi, T Natarajan, Tripurana Vijay, Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, David Miller, Ben Duckett, Auqib Nabi, Pathum Nissanka, Lungi Ngidi, Sahil Parakh, Prithvi Shaw, Kyle Jamieson. (ANI)
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