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Here’s a look at DC’s strongest XI for the upcoming 2025 edition of the world’s richest franchise cricket league.
Delhi Capitals’ strongest playing XI for IPL 2025. (Picture Credit: Screengrab)
Delhi Capitals retained four players—Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, and Abhishek Porel—from the 2024 squad for Rs 47 crore and entered the IPL 2025 mega auction with a purse of Rs 73 crore. In the mega auction, DC tried hard to sign Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant back but failed to achieve the objective. However, they managed to find success in signing KL Rahul, who was released by LSG for Rs 14 crore.
DC used its two RTM cards to get back Jake Fraser-McGurk and Mukesh Kumar for Rs 9 crore and Rs 8 crore, respectively, and also signed Australian pacer Mitchell Starc, South Africa’s Faf du Plessis, England’s Harry Brook, and T Natarajan.
Here’s a look at DC’s strongest playing XI for IPL 2025:
KL Rahul (C & WK): DC splashed Rs 14 crore to sign Indian top-order batter KL Rahul in the IPL 2025 mega auction. The 32-year-old cricketer from Karnataka has played for RCB, SRH, PBKS, and LSG in the past and has 4683 runs to his name in 132 IPL matches.
Jake Fraser-McGurk: Australian batter Jake Fraser-McGurk, who hammered 330 runs with a strike rate of 234.04 in nine matches of his maiden IPL season for DC, was signed by the Delhi-based franchise for Rs 9 crore via RTM card in the IPL 2025 mega auction.
Harry Brook: DC bought back England batter Harry Brook for Rs 6.25 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction. The right-handed batter, who is a regular member of the English team in all three formats of the game, was signed by DC in the IPL 2024 auction as well, but he pulled out of the entire season due to personal reasons. Brook has 190 runs to his name in 11 IPL matches played so far.
Tristan Stubbs: DC retained South African batter Tristan Stubbs for Rs 10 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. The 24-year-old cricketer, who has also played for MI in the world’s richest franchise cricket league, has 405 runs to his name in 18 IPL matches played so far.
Sameer Rizvi: Uttar Pradesh batter Sameer Rizvi, who was part of CSK in IPL 2024, will play for DC in IPL 2025. The Meerut-based cricketer was signed for Rs 95 lakh by Delhi.
Ashutosh Sharma: Ashutosh made a big name for himself in IPL 2024 with his batting in the middle order for PBKS. The 26-year-old right-handed batter from Ratlam was signed for Rs 3.80 crore by DC in the IPL 2025 mega auction.
Axar Patel: Indian all-rounder Axar Patel was retained for Rs 18 crore by DC ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. The member of India’s 2024 T20 World Cup-winning side has played 150 IPL matches so far and has 1653 runs and 123 wickets to his name.
Kuldeep Yadav: Kuldeep Yadav, who has picked up 47 wickets in 39 IPL matches played so far for DC since joining them in the IPL 2022 mega auction, was retained for Rs 14 crore by the Delhi-based franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. The Indian star will lead the team’s spin attack.
Mitchell Starc: DC signed star Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc for Rs 11.75 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction. Starc, who has played for RCB and KKR in the past, played a big role in the Knight Riders title win in 2024. In 41 IPL matches played so far, the 34-year-old cricketer has got rid of 51 batters.
Mukesh Kumar: DC used RTM to sign Indian pacer Mukesh Kumar for Rs 8 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction. The Bihar-born cricketer, who has played in all three formats of the game for India, has picked up 24 wickets in 20 IPL matches played so far for DC.
T Natarajan: T Natarajan has made a big name for himself in the IPL for his bowling in the death overs. The Tamil Nadu-based cricketer, who has 67 wickets to his name in 61 IPL matches played so far for PBKS and SRH, was signed for Rs 10.75 crore by the Delhi-based franchise.
Others: Abhishek Porel (Rs 4 crore, retained), Mohit Sharma (Rs 2.20 crore), Faf du Plessis (Rs 2 crore), Donovan Ferreira (Rs 75 lakh), Dushmantha Chameera (Rs 75 lakh), Vipraj Nigam (Rs 50 lakh), Karun Nair (Rs 50 lakh), Madhav Tiwari (Rs 40 lakh), Tripurana Vijay (Rs 30 lakh), Manvanth Kumar L (Rs 30 lakh), Ajay Mandal (Rs 30 lakh), Darshan Nalkande (Rs 30 lakh)
