IPL 2024: Rishabh Pant to return as batter, set to captain Delhi Capitals (DC)

Rishabh Pant has been away from cricket since December 2022 after meeting a dangerous car accident.

In a good news for cricket fans, Rishabh Pant is set to return to the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) and will captain the Delhi Capitals franchise. However, he is expected to play as a specialist batter only, with the wicket-keeping duties to be assigned to another player.

Notably, Rishabh Pant has been out of action for the past 15 months after he was involved in a near-fatal car accident in December 2022. Pant suffered serious injuries to his knee and legs and after being treated at the local hospital, the BCCI airlifted him to Mumbai. He underwent knee surgery in a Mumbai hospital and recovered at home.

Then he moved to Bengaluru for further recovery and rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) where he has shown amazing improvement in his motion skills and agility. He has also been involved in his IPL franchise Delhi Capitals (DC) preparations for the IPL 2024.

He was present at the DC table in the IPL 2024 auction in Dubai and visited the DC camp in Bengal a couple of months back. DC director of cricket Sourav Ganguly had then said that Rishabh Pant will play in the IPL 2024 and captain the franchise. When Pant was absent in IPL 2023, David Warner captained the side as DC finished in the bottom half of the points table.

Rishabh Pant to return to IPL as pure batter and captain Delhi Capitals      

A report in Cricbuzz revealed that Pant, who has been rehabbing at the NCA in Bengaluru for the past few months, participated in a warm-up game in Alur, near Bengaluru.

It was Pant’s first participation in a match in a long time and he showed promising signs, raising the prospect of seeing him in Delhi Capitals colors in roughly a month.

Pant was fully involved throughout the match. According to sources at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Delhi Capitals, Pant is expected to captain the franchise in the forthcoming season. However, he will participate solely as a batter, with another player set to perform the role of a wicket-keeper.

The report further mentioned that Pant’s mobility remains the same as before that accident. He currently remains in rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.

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