Delhi Capitals squad 2025 IPL Auction: Top 7 Players Delhi Capitals could target in the IPL 2025 Mega Auction

The Delhi Capitals (DC) made headlines a few weeks back by not retaining Rishabh Pant. They did retain Abishek Porel, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Tristan Stubbs, however, and have a healthy purse at their disposal ahead of the mega-auction. Apart from spinners, they will be on the hunt for all other types of players, including a couple of top-quality overseas batters, a foreign fast bowler and maybe an Indian seamer.

Delhi Capitals remaining purse: Rs 73 crore

Player targets

Rishabh Pant

This may seem counter-intuitive but there are murmurs that DC might be interested in bringing Pant back. He will, of course, not come cheap and may cost them more than his probable retention.

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But if DC get this across the line, they will get a world-class Indian player, who knows the franchise inside-out. A win-win situation, assuming Pant is also open to returning.

Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas, like Pant, has captained the Capitals in the past and is, in fact, their most successful skipper ever, having led them to the final of the 2020 iteration.

He will be available at the auction and if DC want to tread a different direction, he seems the ideal choice to take them forward. Shreyas, in addition to being an astute leader, is also an exceptional middle-order batter and will like the easy-paced surfaces in Delhi.

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KL Rahul

Because of what DC have in their kitty (more on that later), they can go hard to get one of the three big Indian batting stars at the auction. Rahul’s acquisition makes sense too, given he can bat at the top of the order and captain the side. Rahul, akin to the Capitals, needs a new start in the IPL and could dovetail beautifully with the franchise’s ambitions.

Jos Buttler

Buttler is one of the premier T20 batters in the world, of that there is little doubt. He can take down seam and spin, he can anchor the innings when required and he can tee off, both from the outset and after a settling-down period. Buttler also provides a captaincy option and still has plenty to offer in the shortest format.

Phil Salt

Salt has played for the Capitals previously, having represented them in 2023. His reputation, though, has only burgeoned since. He was a crucial cog in the Kolkata Knight Riders’ title-winning wheel earlier in 2024 and is England’s first-choice T20I opener at the moment, while also being the second-best ranked T20I batter in the world.

Kagiso Rabada

Teams usually have a soft corner for players that have turned out for them in the past, more so if they have left a positive mark. Rabada did that between 2017 and 2021 for the Delhi-based franchise, and might be at the top of the Capitals’ fast-bowling wish-list, having struggled on that front in 2024.

Mohammed Shami

Shami just returned to competitive cricket days ago, which explains why the Gujarat Titans did not retain him. But even in that game, there were signs that he is just as good as he was before the injury.

In 2022 and 2023, he played a vital role as the Titans made back-to-back finals and the Capitals, who have stuttered and stumbled since the 2021 season, could probably do with an outright match-winner with the ball.

Budget fit

The Capitals have the third-highest purse available, meaning they will likely bid fervently for the cream of the Indian crop. It will, thus, not be outrageous to suggest they could end up with one of Pant, Rahul or Shreyas. They can also target top-drawer overseas players and with the options available, have more elbow room than most.

They have two RTM cards available too, one of which could be used on Pant. The other contenders are David Warner, Jake Fraser-McGurk and Mitchell Marsh. Among Indians, they could look at Khaleel Ahmed and Mukesh Kumar. A slightly more left-field alternative could be Rasikh Dar.

These decisions, though, will hinge on these players’ respective price points and what DC have done in the auction prior to their names coming up.