Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra said that Rishabh Pant potentially playing for the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the upcoming IPL 2024 as captain and batter is virtually a miracle. Pant has not played any competitive cricket after sustaining grievous injuries in a horrific car accident. Reports suggest the swashbuckling batter will likely play for DC in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League but might not be seen donning the wicketkeeping gloves.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “There are filtered reports that Rishabh Pant will be seen playing this year in the IPL, which is absolutely phenomenal. It is miraculous, considering where he came from and where he has reached. Cricket is a very small part of life. It’s very important but cricket is there only if there is life. The sort of accident it was, I was just happy that he was alive. I am pretty sure he would have had to work very hard during the journey from there to here because it’s difficult and extremely lonely as well.”
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Aakash Chopra also said that Rishabh Pant’s presence as a batter will resolve a massive problem for the Delhi-based franchise. Pant has scored 2838 runs at an average of 34.61 and a strike rate of 147.97 in 98 IPL matches so far. He didn’t have a great IPL 2022, where he scored 340 runs at an average of 30.91 and a strike rate of 151.79 in 14 matches as well.
He explained: “He will bat and captain. With batting, he solves an extremely important problem for the Delhi Capitals because he can bat slightly down the order as, unfortunately, all their good players are top-order batters. It’s a very good thing if he (Pant) captains because David Warner, as much as he is a good player, there were serious questions over his captaincy last year. Although Ricky Ponting said Warner would manage, Axar Patel might be saying that he can bat and bowl.”
However, the veteran also observed that David Warner committed a few glaring mistakes as captain in IPL 2023.
“Mukesh Kumar would also be saying that one day Warner remembered only in the 19th over that he is a bowler as well. You don’t see such mistakes from a captain but they were happening and on a regular basis. I feel Delhi Capitals should be happy if Rishabh Pant is available for captaincy,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
