Rishabh Pant is getting ready to make a comeback in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL). A report from Cricbuzz says he played in a practice game in Alur. This is a big step for Pant after his bad car accident in 2022. He hasn’t played in a warm-up game since then. Pant will lead Delhi Capitals in the IPL and focus only on batting, according to BCCI sources.
They also say Pant’s running and batting skills are as good as they were before his accident.
“A big part of the game was to see how well he could move. He’s been practicing batting for some time, so playing in this game was like a continuation of that,” said someone from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. Pant has been getting treatment at the NCA and also in London, arranged by the Indian Cricket Board. After being away from cricket for about 15 months due to his accident, Pant playing in a practice game is great news for his team, Delhi Capitals, and his fans. Earlier, Delhi Capitals’ head coach Ricky Ponting said Pant was confident about playing in the IPL.
“Rishabh is very sure that he’ll be able to play. But we’re not sure yet if he’ll be able to keep wickets,” Ponting said. “He’s been active on social media and seems to be in good shape. But there’s still six weeks to go until the first game. So we’re not sure if he’ll keep wickets this year. He wants to play every game, keep wickets, and bat at No.4. But we’ll have to wait and see,” Ponting added.
The 17th IPL season will start on March 22 and will be held only in India, said league chairman Arun Dhumal. This decision was made because there are general elections happening in April and May. That’s why the IPL schedule hasn’t been announced yet. Pant, who is 26 years old, has played 33 Tests, 30 ODIs, and 66 T20s for India.