Rishabh Pant returned to the playing XI for the Delhi Capitals’ (DC) after missing a few games due to a hamstring injury. The southpaw suffered a Grade 1 hamstring tear during the match against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and had to stay out of the playing eleven for around a week. When he was out, DC brought in Alex Carey as their wicketkeeper, and Ajinkya Rahane came as a replacement for Shimron Hetmyer.
On Tuesday, October 20, Pant played the game against the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) but failed to make a mark as he scored 14 off 20 balls with a solitary four. Australia’s Glenn Maxwell accounted for his wicket in the 14th over after Shreyas Iyer decided to bat first after winning the toss.
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From behind the stumps, Pant also grabbed the catches of Nicholas Pooran and Maxwell to give Kagiso Rabada a couple of wickets. Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra found a humorous side of the cut-throat competition on the field of play. He posted a screenshot of Pant’s doppelganger, who was taking part in the IPL virtual fan-wall, from Solapur.
Chopra uploaded the picture during the second half of KXIP’s run-chase. Captioning the picture on Twitter, he wrote: “Pant is in Solapur. Who’s keeping for #DelhiCapitals in Dubai then? “
Here’s Chopra’s tweet:
Pant is in Solapur. Who’s keeping for #DelhiCapitals in Dubai then? 😛 pic.twitter.com/1pfQaYVzuX
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 20, 2020
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IPL, for the first time, is taking place behind closed doors. Bio-security bubbles have been created and players, along with other staff members, have been following all the necessary protocols. After landing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), teams also had to go through quarantine periods before they started practicing.
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In order to provide the players with a vibrant environment during matches, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to set up four fan walls across the three stadiums in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah.
