One of the quirkiest wicket-keepers the world has seen, Rishabh Pant returned to cricketing action as Delhi Capitals took on Punjab Kings in their opening game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign. Pant, playing his first cricket match in over 14 months, didn’t produce the sort of knock with the bat that he would’ve desired but he did impress with his captaincy from behind the stumps. As Pant returned to field, so did his quirky chatter that was caught on the stump mic.
Inspiring spinner Kuldeep Yadav to continue bowling the line he did, Pant told him, “milega, daalte reh, tu hi hai (continue bowling the same way, you’ll get the wicket, you are the only one)”.
Pant’s efforts to inspire Kuldeep paid off as the left-arm wrist-spinner got the prized wicket of Jitesh Sharma. Here’s the video:
Stump mic conversations we missed #YehHaiNayiDilli #PBKSvDC #IPL2024 pic.twitter.com/W8oZytrSWV
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) March 23, 2024
You are True Skipper Yaar. Always gives confidence to our bowler pic.twitter.com/ASBkMsr2NO
— anxnd (@slogg_sweep) March 23, 2024
Upon return, Pant couldn’t inspire his team to a win, with the Punjab Kings securing a rather comfortable triumph.
Half-century by Sam Curran and his 67-run partnership with Liam Livingstone helped Punjab Kings (PBKS) secure a four-wicket win over Delhi Capitals (DC) in Rishabh Pant’s comeback game during the Indian Premier League at Mullanpur.
Ishant was injured while bowling. Pant lauded batter Abhishek Porel for his hard-hitting knock. Pant also said that he was nervous while batting, but one has to go through it.
“Ishant’s injury was clearly evident because we were still one player short…we lagged with the batting a bit. Abhishek came in and chipped in with a few runs which were crucial. We were short on extra bowling. We actually pulled it back in the end but could not complete the job…(it is) part and parcel of the game. Personally, I was pretty nervous (on return to the field) but you have to go through this when you enter the field. This isn’t the first time being nervous, but happy about that,” said Pant.
“I think we had a par score but because we were one bowler short, because of an injury, cannot do much about it. Wicket played as we expected to play, cannot make excuses. We will learn from it but having one bowler short is never good. End of the day, well played to them (PBKS). Porel’s finish helped us finish on a high. It was an amazing innings, congrats to him. I think it’s just his third or fourth game but the kind of impact he made was huge. Really looking forward [to seeing him] this season,” he added.
With ANI inputs
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