Veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has named a few players the Delhi Capitals (DC) should retain before the IPL 2025 auction. He added that David Warner might not be one of the players they would want to retain. With 14 points from 14 games, DC finished sixth in IPL 2024.
Warner, who sustained a finger injury, aggregated 168 runs at an average of 21.00 in eight games in the recently concluded IPL 2024 as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “The Australian investment is not working, whether it is David Warner or Mitchell Marsh. I don’t remember a single season Mitchell Marsh played fully and did well. He can do well but doesn’t play a full season. I think David Warner is done. You might not want to retain him. Forget Jhye Richardson, he won’t even come into their thoughts.”
He also picked Rishabh Pant and Jake Fraser-McGurk as the IPL 2020 finalists’ first two retentions as well. With 446 runs at a strike rate of 155.40 in 13 innings, Pant was the DC’a highest run-getter in IPL 2024. Fraser-McGurk also smashed 330 runs at a strike rate of 234.04 in nine games as well.
ALSO READ: Kirti Azad welcomes BCCI’s new directive in central contract
“Rishabh Pant as the first retention because you want to retain the captain in any case. You won’t get anyone like Rishabh Pant again. So you will want to keep Rishabh Pant. You will want to retain Jake Fraser-McGurk. You want to go with him because of the way he bats,” Chopra again shared. “Retain both Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. You should 100% retain these four – Rishabh Pant, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. You won’t also get anyone like Kuldeep Yadav again. You can use Axar Patel very well and you did that this time, let’s be fair, and you won’t get anyone like Axar Patel also again.”
However, Aakash Chopra chose Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel as the other two players the Delhi Capitals should retain for the next season as well. He also named Tristan Stubbs and Khaleel Ahmed as the other players DC should either retain or buy through the ‘Right to Match’ option as well.
“I will think about Tristan Stubbs as my fifth player because he is batting at a very tough number. So you can keep him with you with the ‘Right to Match’ card, and last but not the least, Khaleel Ahmed. I will definitely want to retain Khaleel Ahmed, that, if possible, I can get him through the ‘Right to Match’ card,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
