The Delhi Capitals were given a big blow as their captain, Rishabh Pant, injured himself badly in a car accident last December.
The 25-year-old India wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant has been ruled out of action for most of the year due to the injuries, in particular the multiple knee and leg injuries.
David Warner has been named the Delhi Capitals captain for IPL 2023 in the absence of Rishabh Pant.
Warner led SRH to the 2016 Indian Premier League trophy. But, after a tussle with the management, he was released by SRH after Indian League 2021. DC bought Warner in the Indian Premier League 2022 mega-auction and the opener paired superbly with the destructive opener Prithvi Shaw.
The Indian League 2023 will kick-start on March 31 with defending champions Gujarat Titans hosting MS Dhoni‘s Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad.
Delhi Capitals’ first match is on April 1st, against Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow.
While DC have picked a captaincy replacement of Pant, it is still not clear who will do the wicket-keeping duties. The first contender for that slot was Sarfaraz Khan, who has done some wicket-keeping at some domestic level. However, Khan has sustained a finger injury and is likely to miss some matches or perhaps even the entire Indian Premier League 2023.
This leaves DC with the option of Phil Salt, the dynamic England opener who can double up as a wicket-keeper when needed as he did in the recent SA20 tournament for the Capitals’ sister franchise Pretoria Capitals.
Salt did a good job as a wicket-keeper for Pretoria in a few matches before Kusal Mendis arrived and took the gloves being a regular keeper. Salt was also brilliant with the bat in the SA20 tournament.
But with Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Anrich Nortje, and Rovman Powell seemingly the first-choice 4 overseas players, it would be difficult for Delhi to fit in Salt. They perhaps will drop Rovman Powell, who also showed excellent hitting form in the PSL.
DC will be looking at Indian wicket-keeping options to replace Pant in the squad – the likes of Mohammed Azharuddeen, Baba Indrajith, and Dinesh Bana went unsold in the auction and could be a replacement for Pant in the squad, but none of them have any Indian League experience.
It feels like Sarfaraz Khan (if fit) will be the wicket-keeper for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2023.
Delhi Capitals squad Indian premier League 2023:
Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje, David Warner(C), Mitchell Marsh, Sarfaraz Khan, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Mustafizur Rahman, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Chetan Sakariya, Lalit Yadav, Ripal Patel, Yash Dhull, Rovman Powell, Pravin Dubey, Lungi Ngidi, Vicky Ostwal, Aman Khan, Phil Salt, Ishant Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Manish Pandey, Rilee Rossouw
