IPL 2020: 'Rishabh Pant's absence is making the Delhi Capitals' balance go awry' - Aakash Chopra
Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has opined that Rishabh Pant's absence due to injury has affected the balance in the Delhi Capitals batting lineup.
He made this observation while reviewing the Shreyas Iyer-led side's loss against the Mumbai Indians in a video shared on his YouTube channel.
Aakash Chopra mentioned that the Delhi Capitals went into the match without Rishabh Pant. The destructive batsman likely to be out of action for at least a week.
"Delhi Capitals won the toss and elected to bat but the news comes that Pant is injured. And it is not that he is injured for now, he is injured for a week at least. I remember in the last match he had gone stumbling to take the last catch, so probably that was his injury."
The renowned commentator pointed out that the wicket-keeper's absence could be a huge blow for the Delhi Capitals as they do not have any other Indian gloveman in their squad.
"But if he is out for a week, it makes it slightly difficult for the Delhi Capitals. Because if he goes, they have to play an Indian batsman and you have to play a keeper. And they only have an overseas keeper other than Pant."
The former KKR player observed that Shimron Hetmyer, who was the Delhi Capitals' batting star in their last match, had to sit out the encounter against the Mumbai Indians to accommodate Alex Carey in the lineup.
"So they bring in Alex Carey and Hetmyer has to sit out and they also pick Ajinkya Rahane as the other batsman. So, just because of a Pant going out, an in-form Hetmyer has to sit out. So, Rishabh Pant's absence is making the Delhi Capitals' balance go awry."
Aakash Chopra on the impact of Rishabh Pant's absence on the Delhi Capitals' game against the Mumbai Indians
![Shikhar Dhawan scored an unbeaten 69 runs for the Delhi Capitals against MI [P/C: iplt20.com]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2020/10/ace61-16024824046025-800.jpg)
Aakash Chopra pointed out that the Delhi Capitals batsmen had to take a more conservative approach due to the absence of Rishabh Pant and Shimron Hetmyer.
"Because of this when they were batting they did not bat in their usual free-flowing manner, they did not have the freedom. Shikhar Dhawan was playing a little slow because he did not have an option, there was neither a Hetmyer nor a Pant down the order."
He added that Shikhar Dhawan was particularly restrained while facing Krunal Pandya as he could not afford to lose his wicket.
Who scored the highest runs in IPL 2020, click here to find out.
"If he gets out hitting, then Alex Carey is playing his first match. So all that was playing on his mind perhaps and that is why he did not play that aggressively in Krunal Pandya's overs."
Aakash Chopra signed off by stating that the careful approach followed by the Delhi Capitals batsman, along with the run out of Marcus Stoinis, caused them to be restricted to a below-par score which was never going to be much of a challenge for the Mumbai Indians.
"And when you do not play aggressively and you have a bad run out of Stoinis in the end, what happens is that when the total should have been around 180, you end up at 160-165 and when you are stopped there, then it is not enough for the Mumbai Indians."
After the Delhi Capitals lost the wicket of Prithvi Shaw off the third ball of their innings, Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan were forced to play a little more conservatively. Although Dhawan, along with their other batsmen, tried to accelerate towards the back end of their innings, a target of 163 runs was never going to be enough for the batting might of the Mumbai Indians.