- Saturday, April 27, 2024
The 26-year-old hard-hitting wicket-keeper-batter remained out of action since December 2022 when he suffered a near-fatal car crash in his home state of Uttarakhand.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN wicket-keeper-batter Rishabh Pant made a comeback to competitive cricket on Saturday (23) when he appeared to captain Delhi Capitals (DC) against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, Mohali, in Punjab. The 26-year-old had been out of cricket since December 2022 when he suffered a near-fatal car crash in the northern state of Uttarakhand while driving home from Delhi.
Pant, who was given a standing ovation by the spectators as well the players as he entered the ground to bat at No.4. He was back to cricket after 454 days and while the southpaw did not show any major discomfort while batting, even while refusing to take two runs twice in the first six deliveries that he faced. The cricketer has reconstructed ligaments in his right knee and avoided rushing into his return to competitive cricket.
However, the batter was utterly furious at himself when he got out in the bowling of pace bowler Harshal Patel who produced a slower as Pant arched back to hit it over backward point region but ended up giving an easy catch to Jonny Bairstow. It was a good comeback from Patel who dropped Pant in the previous over off the bowling of spinner Rahul Chahar.
Read: When India’s Rishabh Pant feared leg amputation after deadly car crash
Pant screamed at himself on getting out and hit his bat onto his pads. He fell for just 18 runs off 13 balls during which he hit two boundaries.
Earlier at the toss, Pant said his return was an “emotional” moment and that he only looked forward to enjoying it.
Read: IPL 2024 opener: Virat Kohli scores just 20 but achieves massive feat
“Really emotional time for me. Just want to enjoy the moment. Not thinking much. I think not worried about last season. Really exciting times. We have been preparing well,” he said.
Pant’s last appearance on a cricket ground was in December 2022 when he played a Test match in Bangladesh.
Punjab captain Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and asked Delhi to bat first.
DC ended up with 174 for the loss of nine wickets in 20 overs with Shai Hope top scoring with 33 off 25 balls.
