"He raises his game when it comes to winning the tournament" - Aakash Chopra on Delhi Capitals' strengths ahead of IPL 2025

Former India player Aakash Chopra has picked Mitchell Starc's presence as one of the Delhi Capitals' (DC) strengths ahead of IPL 2025. He pointed out that the Australian seamer tends to bring out his best at the business end of a tournament.

DC acquired Starc for ₹11.75 crore at the IPL 2025 auction. The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) seamer picked up 17 wickets at an average of 26.11 in 13 innings in IPL 2024, delivering spells of 3/34 and 2/14 in Qualifier 1 and the final, respectively.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener termed Starc an X-factor in the Delhi Capitals' IPL 2025 squad.

"Mitchell Starc is an X-factor. He raises his game when it comes to winning the tournament. He showed that by doing it in the playoffs last year. The likes of Mukesh Kumar, Mohit Sharma and Darshan Nalkande are also there, but they are betting heavily on Mitchell Starc," he said (4:15).

Chopra chose the spin-bowling duo of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav as another of DC's strengths heading into IPL 2025.

"I like this team's spin bowling a lot. Captain Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, they are an eight-over bank, and they are actually bankable players. Both pick up wickets and keep it tight as well. They also bowl in different stages of the game," he observed.

Kuldeep Yadav picked up 16 wickets at an economy rate of 8.69 in 11 innings in IPL 2024. Axar Patel accounted for 11 dismissals at an economy rate of 7.65 in 14 innings last season.

---

"They have a healthy mix of caution and aggression in the batting order" - Aakash Chopra on Delhi Capitals' other strength heading into IPL 2025

Jake Fraser-McGurk is one of the explosive batters in the Delhi Capitals' IPL 2025 squad. [P/C: iplt20.com]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that the Delhi Capitals' IPL 2025 squad has batters who can adopt contrasting approaches.

"They have a healthy mix of caution and aggression in the batting order. You will get Faf du Plessis opening with Jake Fraser-McGurk. He will surely play since he is the vice-captain now and Harry Brook is also not there. However, it means you might find KL Rahul at No. 3 and Abishek Porel may or may not be seen," he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted that Jake Fraser-McGurk can take the opposition attack to the cleaners if he gets going.

"Karun Nair might get a chance due to this. Tristan Stubbs was one of the finest finishers last year. Ashutosh Sharma was one of the finest finishers last year. Sameer Rizvi might also get a chance. Jake Fraser-McGurk, if he gets going, you know what he does. There is a lot of variety as they have both attacking and defensive players," Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra opined that Axar Patel might bat slightly up the order for the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025. He pointed out that it would allow the franchise to have a left-right combination in the middle as they would otherwise have an entire right-handed batting lineup if Abishek Porel isn't part of the playing XI.