Rishabh Pant To Lead Delhi Capitals In IPL 2024, DC Owner Confirms
Ricky Ponting with Rishabh Pant [X.com]
India's most loved player Rishabh Pant will make his way back onto the field during the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 edition leading the Delhi Capitals (DC) franchise.
However, Pant, who is making a comeback from a near-fatal accident, will not don the gloves during the first half of the competition as confirmed by co-owner Parth Jindal.
As quoted by ESPNcricinfo, Jindal stated that the wicketkeeper-batter will captain DC from match 1 of the IPL 2024 while also mentioning that South Africa's Anrich Nortje is expected to regain fitness and play on March 23 against Punjab Kings.
Pant's participating still remains to be approved by Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) medical panel, post which DC management consisting of head coach Ricky Ponting, and team director Sourav Ganguly will take opt to play Pant in playing XI.
First seven games we are going to play him only as a batter - DC Co-Owner Parth Jindal
"Rishabh is batting. He's running. He has started his wicketkeeping. He is likely to be fully fit for the IPL. I am expecting Rishabh to play IPL and he will lead from match one. First seven games we are going to play him only as a batter and depending on how his body reacts, we will take a call for the rest of the IPL."
The young player has recently been sharing clips of doing wicketkeeping drills, and also played a practice matches in Alur last week.
Delhi will kickoff phase 1 of the IPL 2024 on March 23, and end on April 7. The BCCI are yet to announce the second phase schedule.