IPL 2023: David Warner will captain Delhi Capitals

Head coach Ricky Ponting and the team management found Warner the best fit in Pant's absence. Pant was injured in a horrific car accident in December.

With Pant being ruled out for the 2023 season, the Capitals had to look for an interim captain and Warner was in contention for the post along with Akshar Patel.

This will be the second time that Warner will lead the Capitals. In his previous stints with the franchise in 2009 and 2013, he had led the side in a few matches.

Warner was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014 and in 2016, he led the team to their maiden title.

The burden of captaincy also had no effect on Warner. He has 2,840 runs as captain at an average of 47.33 and a strike rate of 142.28 with one century and 26 fifties. But after his drop in form in the first half of the 2021 IPL, Hyderabad replaced Warner with Kane Williamson as the captain of the team and also dropped him from the playing XI.

This led to a rift between the team and Warner and he was released ahead of the 2022 mega auction. Capitals bought him in the auction for Rs 6.25 crore. He emerged as the team's leading run-scorer in 2022, where he scored 432 runs at an average of 48 and a strike rate of 150.52, including five half-centuries.

The Capitals missed out on a place in the playoffs after a narrow defeat to Mumbai Indians in their last league match. Delhi finished fifth in the points table with seven wins, seven losses and a total of 14 points.

The Delhi Capitals will begin their IPL 2023 campaign against Lucknow Super Giants on April 1.