The wait is finally over. Rishabh Pant has made his comeback to cricket through the IPL 2024, leading the Delhi Capitals in his side’s first match of the season, against Punjab Kings at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh.
His appearance at the toss spread joy among fans on social media, who erupted with heart-warming tweets for the 26-year-old keeper-batsman.
December 30, 2022, was the date when Pant suffered a life-threatening car crash, and thankfully, he got out alive. March 23, 2024, is the date he makes his comeback.
Rishabh Pant said at the toss: “We would have batted first. The wicket looks a little on the slower side. Really emotional time for me. Just want to enjoy the moment. Not thinking much. I think not worried about last season. Really exciting times. We have been preparing well. Four overseas batters for us. Hope, Marsh, Warner, Stubbs.”
Twitter reactions as Rishabh Pant appears at the toss of PBKS vs DC:
PBKS captain Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Teams:
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Shai Hope, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Ricky Bhui, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Sumit Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Ishant Sharma
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan(c), Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Shashank Singh
On the eve of the match, Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting paid a tribute to Pant, saying, “There’s no doubt last year we missed our captain, we missed one of the best players in the world. Just his attitude, his smile, the way he goes about his cricket, he’s a winner. He wants to win games.
“He wants to do the best he can for the team all the time. And when you have that attitude coming back into a team, that’s infectious. Everyone wants to be like Rishabh and play the way that he plays his cricket. He’s our leader. He’s the heartbeat of this franchise and having him back is going to make this team a lot better and a lot stronger.”
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