Jaipur, March 27: Skipper Rishabh Pant will look to overcome his rustiness as Delhi Capitals aim for an improved batting display in their bid for a first win of the IPL season when they take on Rajasthan Royals here on Thursday.
Pant’s much-anticipated return to action 453 days after he suffered grievous injuries in a horrific car accident, lasted just 13 balls (18 runs) with Punjab Kings winning by four wickets at their new home ground in Mullanpur.
Pant, though, displayed his usual lively demeanour behind the stumps and also effected the stumping of Jitesh Sharma.Having overcome the early jitters and nervousness in his first game, Pant would be eager to regain his mojo quickly as his match-up against the likes of Trent Boult, Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal would be the highlight of the contest.“It’s exciting to have your captain back in the team. He is our leader and heartbeat of this franchise and having him back is going to make this team a lot stronger,” head coach Ricky Ponting had said of Pant ahead of the IPL.
Ponting chose David Warner and Mitchell Marsh to open the innings in the hope that the duo would score enough runs to take the pressure off Pant lower down the order. But the two failed to capitalise on good starts and the pressure soon came on Pant.
Wicketkeeper-batter Abhishek Porel’s unbeaten 32-run cameo was the only bright spot in DC’s batting, which lifted them to a respectable 174/9 from a precarious 138/7 at one stage.
Porel was used as an impact player as Delhi were a bowler short. The problem was worsened further after Ishant Sharma twisted his ankle. The lanky pacer could miss a few matches as well.
Delhi’s spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel will have a bigger role to play after what was witnessed on a dry surface at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium the other day when Rajasthan Royals’ opening duo of Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal faced some early hiccups against Lucknow Super Giants.
However, Sanju Samson struck an unbeaten 82 as the Royals won by 20 runs. By scoring a fifty in his team’s first match of the season for the fifth successive time, Samson has become an early contender for the hotly-contested spot for the wicketkeeper-batter’s slot in the upcoming T20 World Cup.With Riyan Parag also among the runs, the Royals top-four will pose questions to the Delhi bowling lineup, and here’s where Kuldeep and Axar’s overs will be crucial in the middle.
The Royals’ bowling has also hit the right notes with Trent Boult leading the charge with the new ball. (PTI)
