Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 Retentions, former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh said that Delhi Capitals (DC) should retain Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Tristan Stubbs and Jake Fraser-McGurk. In 2020, Delhi Capitals reached their first-ever final. However, in the last season, they narrowly missed the playoffs based on net run rate, with seven wins, seven losses, and a total of 14 points. In the 2024 season of the IPL, Pant played 13 matches and scored 446 runs at a strike rate of 155.40. Star India all-rounder Axar Patel appeared in 14 matches in IPL 2024 and scored 235 runs at a strike rate of 131.28. He also picked up 11 wickets at an economy rate of 24.00.
Tristan Stubbs also played in 14 matches in IPL 2024 and scored 378 runs at a strike rate of 190.91. Jake Fraser-McGurk made his debut in the IPL in 2024 season and played 9 matches, in which he scored 330 runs at a strike rate of 234.04.
Speaking with Star Sports, Harbhajan Singh named five players who should be retained by the Delhi-based franchise. The former India cricketer also named Mitchell Marsh who should be retained for the upcoming season of the T20 tournament.
“We have heard a lot of speculation on whether Rishabh Pant will be retained or not. Time will tell, but if I was a part of the management there, then I would have retained him. Rishabh Pant should be retained. Axar Patel should be retained. Stubbs should be retained. And the 4th player to be retained will be Fraser McGurk. And if you want to retain the 5th player, then it could be Mitch Marsh. Apart from that, I think there is no other player that you would want to retain. Out of those 5 players, I think Delhi Capitals should retain at least 4 of them,” Harbhajan was quoted in a release from Star Sports as saying.
Earlier in the month, former Indian cricketers Hemang Badani and Venugopal Rao joined the coaching staff of Delhi Capitals as head coach and director of cricket, respectively, ahead of the next season of the IPL.
Meanwhile, cricketing icon and one of India’s most successful captains, Sourav Ganguly has been named as Director of Cricket for JSW Sports.
