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'Count Days: 454' - Google Melts Hearts With A Message For Rishabh Pant

Pant scored 18 in his comeback match. (BCCI)Pant scored 18 in his comeback match. (BCCI)

Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Rishabh Pant marked his return to competitive cricket after a long hiatus since December 2022. Leading his team against the Punjab Kings on Sunday in the first afternoon game of the IPL 2024, Pant's comeback drew considerable attention, including a special tweet from Google India, celebrating the much-awaited return of the wicket-keeper batter.

The comeback of the Delhi Capitals' captain was eagerly awaited, especially after his absence following a deadly car accident in December 2022. 

The moment finally arrived early on Saturday afternoon in Mullanpur, Chandigarh, when Pant walked out to the crease amidst a rousing reception from the crowd, following the dismissal of David Warner.

As fans from around the world welcomed Pant, Google India also joined in, highlighting the wicketkeeper-batter's injury break in a special tweet captioned, "It's been a long wait, welcome back #IPL."

Pant fans expected a better show with the bat on a flat looking Mullanpur pitch, but he could only manage to score 18 runs off 13 balls, with two boundaries. 

He narrowly escaped an early dismissal when Harshal Patel dropped a straightforward catch on the boundary due to the sun's glare. However, the right-arm seamer bounced back in the next over, dismissing Pant with a slower bouncer.

Despite Delhi's struggles during the major part of their innings after being put to bat first, they managed to post a total of 174 for nine, courtesy of Abishek Porel's explosive batting display in the final over, where he hammered 25 runs from just 10 balls to finish unbeaten on 32.

In response, the Punjab Kings were 42/2 before Prabhsimran Singh and Sam Curran added 42 runs. 

Despite the quick dismissals of Prabhsimran and Jitesh Sharma, Curran remained resolute, smashing a match-winning fifty. Liam Livingstone's contribution of 38 runs off 21 balls provided the finishing touches to the innings.