Delhi Capitals rope in David Warner to replace injured captain Rishabh Pant

Delhi Capitals roped in veteranAustralia batter David Warner to replace captain Rishabh Pant who is currently undergoing rehabilitation after a car crash for the upcoming Indian Premier League IPL season on Thursday India allrounder Axar Patel will be his deputy a role he performed last year also IPL 2023 kicks off on March 31Delhi Capitals franchise also announced former India captain and Ex BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly as their Director of Cricket Ganguly has been associated with Capitals in the past too in the role of mentor during the 2019 seasonRishabh has been a terrific leader for Delhi Capitals and were all going to miss having him around I would like to thank the management for the faith and trust theyve always shown in me Warner said in a release This franchise has always been home for me and I couldnt be more excited to lead such a supremely talented bunch of players I cant wait to meet them all and get crackingWarner was expected to lead the team after Pant who led the team from 2021 season met with a horrific car accident in late December and successfully underwent a knee ligament tear surgery in Mumbai Warner is currently in India for Australias ODI leg of the tour which begins in Mumbai on Friday He is one of IPLs most prolific batters with 5881 runs from 162 matches in the 13 seasons that he has featured since 2009 He has an average of 4201 strike rate of 14069 and has hit four hundreds and 55 fiftiesAlso Read David Warners availability for Mumbai ODI against India to be assessed ReportThe 36yearold began his IPL stint with the same franchise back in 2009 when it was Delhi Daredevils then and remained part of the team till 2013 He was the interim captain of the team for a couple of matches in 2013 before being bought by Sunrirsers Hyderabad next yearDavid Warner Axar Patel All set to roar loud this IPL2023 under the leadership of these two dynamic southpaws YehHaiNayiDilli davidwarner31 akshar2026 pictwittercom5VfgyefjdHmdash Delhi Capitals DelhiCapitals March 16 2023In 2016 Warner took Sunrisers Hyderabad to its IPL title as captain He is the jointfifth most successful captain in terms of matches won In 69 matches he led Warners teams won 35 lost 32 and tied two matchesWarner however returned to the Delhi franchise in 2022 after a fallout with the Sunrisers management following a poor run in form in the 2021 IPL He was the leading rungetter for DC in the last IPL scoring 432 runs at an average of 48 and a healthy strike rate of 15052 including five halfcenturies The explosive opener struggled in the two Tests he played against India for the BorderGavaskar Trophy scoring 26 runs from his three innings before being substituted out of the second match in Delhi due to concussion He then returned home to recover from a hairline fracture in his elbowMeanwhile Ganguly said he is excited to be back with the Delhi Capitals My association with the womens team and the Pretoria Capitals over the last few months has been fantastic and Im looking forward to the upcoming season of the IPL he said Delhi Capitals had done well as a team during my last stint with them Ive already been involved with the players this time around and Im keen to see them as a group Hopefully we will all have a great time over the next couple of months he addedDelhi Capitals will take on Lucknow Super Giants in their season opener in an away game on April 1With PTI inputs