India’s star batsman Rishabh Pant was on Tuesday named the captain of the Delhi Capitals for the upcoming 14th edition of the Indian Premier League, replacing the injured Shreyas Iyer.
Shreyas Iyer is not playing for the entire season of IPL due to a shoulder injury in the recently concluded India-England ODI series.
23-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has previously captained Delhi in domestic cricket. Pant was the captain of Delhi in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the year 2017.
Rishabh Pant played 68 IPL matches and he scored 2079 runs with an average of 35.2 and 152 strike rate
Kiran Kumar Gandhi, chairman and co-owner of Delhi Capitals, said, “Our team has reached a new high under the leadership of Mr. Shreyas Iyer, so they will miss a lot.” In his absence, the franchise has chosen Rishabh Pant to captain the team this year of IPL 2021.”
He said, “Although this opportunity has come in very unfortunate circumstances, it is a good opportunity for him to move forward.” I want to wish him all the best in his new role.”
Dreams come True
After being made captain, Pant said, ‘It was always my dream to one day become captain of such a team in Delhi where I grew up and started my IPL journey six years ago. Today my dream came true. I feel honored. It is a truly great moment and I am thankful to the team owners for this because these people deemed me worthy of this role. I am trying to give my best for the Delhi Capitals, with the excellent coaching staff and many seniors.’
Pant is in great form this year
Pant played a key role in India’s 3–1 win in the Test series against England in which he scored 270 runs in six innings with the help of a century. Pant was in excellent form in the ODI series after the T20 International series against England in which he played matches. There were 77 and 78 innings played in it.
Shreyas’s injured shoulder surgery may be on 8 April. After this, he can stay away from cricket for at least 5 months. In IPL 14 edition, Delhi Capitals will start their campaign against Chennai Super Kings on April 10 at the Wankhede Stadium Mumbai.
