3 reasons why Rishabh Pant's possible return is great news for Delhi Capitals ahead of IPL 2024
Rishabh Pant is expected to return to action for the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the IPL 2024. The DC skipper was ruled out of playing any form of cricket in 2023 after suffering a car crash accident in which he tore all three key ligaments of his right knee. He is likely to return to full fitness by the end of February 2024.
Pant's absence was not heavily felt by India, especially in limited-overs cricket, where the likes of KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan are able deputees. However, DC dearly missed their skipper. They finished ninth on the table after winning just five of their 14 matches in the IPL 2023.
David Warner, who was named DC captain in Pant's absence, was the only player who scored more than 300 runs for the team in IPL 2023. Moreover, not having a marquee Indian player will always hurt a team's chances, as was the case with the Mumbai Indians (Jasprit Bumrah) and Kolkata Knight Riders (Shreyas Iyer).
On that note, let's look at three reasons why Rishabh Pant's possible return is great news for the Delhi Capitals ahead of the IPL 2024.
#1 Rishabh Pant partly solves Delhi Capitals' middle-order issues
The Delhi Capitals' middle order was abysmal last season. Manish Pandey (160 runs in nine innings) and Mitchell Marsh (128 runs in nine innings) failed to make an impact. Phil Salt (218 runs in nine innings) and Rilee Rossouw (209 runs in nine innings) were decent but have been released, along with Pandey.
In fact, Axar Patel was DC's second-highest run-getter in IPL 2023, only behind Warner. The all-rounder scored 283 runs in 13 outings at an average of 28.30 and a strike rate of 139.40. This just shows how poor DC's middle order was in 2023.
Rishabh Pant's return will see him batting at number four, behind Marsh and the openers (Prithvi Shaw and Warner). With Axar coming in at number six, all DC have to do now is get someone like Daryl Mitchell or Shahrukh Khan in the auction to have a solid batting unit.
#2 It is always better to have an Indian captain
Rishabh Pant's return will also see him take back the captaincy duties from Warner. While Warner has been a good captain for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the past, he looked out of sorts while leading a significantly weaker DC side last season.
Rishabh Pant himself hasn't been the perfect captain for the Delhi-based outfit. However, he is a superb communicator and a leader off the pitch as well, which will help the young Indian players at the Delhi Capitals to open up and play freely. While he may not keep wickets in the upcoming IPL, he will be the captain for sure.
Moreover, having an Indian captain allows the team to try different overseas combinations. Warner isn't expected to be benched by DC anytime soon. However, at 37, there's always a chance of a dip in form, in which case the team could drop him for the odd match.
#3 Improves team balance
The Delhi Capitals have always been a side that liked using a couple of overseas pace bowlers, especially during the Kagiso Rabada-Anrich Nortje era. As Rishabh Pant was injured in IPL 2023, they opted for an extra overseas batter instead.
This meant that only one of Nortje and Mustafizur Rahman could feature in the playing XI. This hurt their bowling unit, as their leading wicket taker, Mitch Marsh, just picked up 12 wickets in IPL 2023. No bowler consistently picked up two or more wickets per game.
With Pant back, they can actually go back to fielding a couple of overseas pacers. In that case, they will have to go all out in the auction to bring Shahrukh Khan for the number five role in the team instead of Mitchell, who would have been the third overseas batter.