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Rishabh Pant As Captain, Axar To Lead DC And WPL Schedule – January 16 Cricket Highlights

Aakash Saini

Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel [Source: @CricCrazyJohns, @IPL/x]Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel [Source: @CricCrazyJohns, @IPL/x]

The BCCI unveiled the entire schedule of the WPL 2025 season. Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel are been considered for potential captaincy gigs for Delhi-based cricket teams. Moreover, a certain former Saurashtra cricketer has jumped out of the reckoning to become India’s new batting coach.

Capping an eventful day in the world of cricket, here we take a look at five of the biggest cricketing news that emerged out of Thursday, January 16.

Axar Patel Tipped To Lead Delhi Capitals

Indian all-rounder Axar Patel has emerged as a frontrunner to lead the Delhi Capitals franchise in the upcoming IPL 2025 season. Back in late-2024, the franchise released regular skipper and blistering wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, and he was later snapped by LSG at the IPL 2025 mega auction.

Notably, Axar has been a part of the Capitals franchise since 2019, and even led them on a few occasions over the past two editions of the tournament. Recent reports indicate that the team management is considering the spin-bowling all-rounder as captain over former Punjab Kings and LSG skipper KL Rahul.

Sitanshu Kotak Likely To Become India’s Batting Coach

In a significant development, former Saurashtra captain Sitanshu Kotak will likely be appointed as the new batting coach of the Indian cricket team. Kotak has previously served the Indian A team on several tours, and has assisted VVS Laxman during India’s short white-ball trip to Ireland back in mid-2023. If appointed, he will join the Gautam Gambhir-led Indian coaching staff for the upcoming home white-ball series against England and for the subsequent 2025 ICC Champions Trophy in the UAE.

After announcing his retirement from professional cricket as a player, Sitanshu Kotak started his coaching tenure at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Rishabh Pant Likely To Lead Delhi In Ranji Trophy

Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant will likely lead the Delhi cricket team in their upcoming Ranji Trophy 2024-25 match against Saurashtra. Pant recently returned from Australia where Team India suffered a humiliating 1-3 drubbing to the hosts to concede its Border-Gavaskar Test title for the first time in over a decade.

According to a TOI report, Pant has been considered to captain Delhi as the wicketkeeper-batter aims to get back to his usual run-scoring ways amidst his red-ball struggles with the bat. As per a senior DDCA official, the selectors will reportedly be unveiling Delhi’s squad later this week.

BCCI Unveil WPL 2025 Schedule

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) unveiled the entire itinerary of the upcoming WPL 2025 season. The third edition of the tournament will launch from February 14 onwards with a match between Gujarat Giants and defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). As many as four venues will be hosting the tournament, namely the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara, the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow and the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

The Eliminator and the final matches will be played in Bengaluru, the home ground of WPL 2024 winners RCB, on March 13 and March 15 respectively.

Charlie Dean Joins RCB As Sophie Molineux Replacement

English spinner Charlie Dean was roped in by the RCB Women’s franchise after Australian all-rounder Sophie Molineux was ruled out of the WPL 2025 season owing to a knee injury. Dean has played 36 T20I matches for England, claiming 46 wickets in the process to add to her London Spirit experience in The Hundred competition.

Molineux, on the other hand, played a crucial role to RCB’s title-winning campaign back in WPL 2024, picking up 12 wickets in the season at an average of 23.16.