Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar believes it will take some time for Rishabh Pant to hit the ground running at Delhi Capitals in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League 2024. Pant will make the much-awaited comeback after recovering from multiple injuries, which he suffered in a car accident.
Pant has been declared fit by the BCCI medical team to take the wicket-keeping gloves for Delhi Capitals. The left-hander will also lead the franchise in the upcoming season.
Pant has looked good in the training sessions and he will be the cynosure of all eyes when he returns to the real action. The southpaw has amassed 2838 runs at an average of 34.61 and a strike rate of 147.97 in 98 IPL games.
“It’ll be very difficult. But the good thing is he (Pant) has played some cricket. So he has got some practice. To get fluency in batting is a little tough. When you talk of a knee injury, the pivoting that takes place. Wicketkeeping is difficult as well, but even in batting, the knee is quite important. So, maybe, in the beginning, we won’t see the real Rishabh Pant that we are used to,” said Gavaskar on Star Sports.
“To find a wicketkeeper like him who comments from behind the stumps, that’s full-on entertainment because there are a lot of wicket-keepers who would like to disturb your concentration by saying different things…but Rishabh Pant has the ability to say such a thing that whoever he is targetting, they also laugh, they also enjoy it. But when enjoying it, their concentration goes down a bit, right? The advantage is for his team then.”
Gavaskar added it will be interesting to note how Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill will handle the captaincy pressure.
“That is going to be the most important thing: the way he can handle the captaincy. Will it affect and impact his batting? And the second thing is there is a commonality in our initials; both of us are SG’s, and if we go even further, my initials are SMG, and he has Shubh-Man Gill in his name,” said Gavaskar.
Delhi Capitals will begin their IPL 2024 campaign against Punjab Kings at Mohali on March 23 whereas Gujarat Titans will take on Mumbai Indians at their home ground of Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on March 24.
