Reports: Shikhar Dhawan was offered Delhi's captaincy before Rishabh Pant
What’s the story?
A day after teenager Rishabh Pant was offered the role to captain Delhi’s side in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali inter-zonal T20 tournament, it was revealed that Shikhar Dhawan was offered the role as well, but his indecisiveness led to the selectors opting for Pant instead.
"One of the selectors first offered Dhawan the job. Dhawan told him that he would consult Gambhir before taking any call," a source close to Dhawan told TOI.
"He didn't want to be seen someone who is ambitious to take captaincy," the source continued.
Extra Cover: Rishabh Pant takes over Delhi captaincy from Gautam Gambhir
In case you didn’t know...
Rishabh Pant made his debut for the Indian cricket team in the third and final T20I against England in Bangalore on 3rd February 2017. He did not get a chance to make a mark for himself as he faced only 3 deliveries and scored 5 runs.
Shortly after that, he was a part of the India A side that took on Bangladesh in a warm-up match ahead of the one-off Test, Pant failed to make a big impact as he was dismissed after scoring a quick-fire 19.
The heart of the matter
Pant has been a revelation of sorts for his state and caught a lot of eyes with his magnificent performance in the Ranji Trophy as he scored 972 runs in 8 matches at a phenomenal strike rate of 107.92.
Meanwhile, Gambhir has been going through a dry spell off late and has not been able to get going in the shorter format of the game. Dhawan too has been quite inconsistent with his performances for the Indian cricket team.
What’s next?
The 2017 edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy is set to begin on the 25th of this month. Delhi will kick start their campaign in the 50-overs tournament by taking on Tamil Nadu in Cuttack. Before that, Pant will turn out for North Zone under Harbhajan Singh’s captaincy in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Sportskeeda’s take
After an exceptional Ranji Trophy campaign with Delhi, it will be extremely interesting to see whether Pant will be able to captain his side to victory in the inter-zonal T20 games. He would surely be under a lot of pressure as he will captaining the likes of former Indian cricket team members such as Gautam Gambhir, and current Indian ODI opener Shikhar Dhawan. With the pressure of captaincy off his shoulders now, Gambhir will look to get back his form before the all important Indian Premier League in April.