New Delhi, Mar 1: Former India skipper and Delhi Capitals’ Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly expressed his feelings on Thursday ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 as star wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant joined the Delhi Capitals squad.Pant missed the IPL 2023 after suffering multiple injuries in a horrific car accident on December 30, 2022.
The 51-year-old asserted that Pant’s inclusion is a really huge boost for the Delhi Capitals side ahead of the IPL 2024. The southpaw further said that he is extremely happy that Pant is back in the squad.
“It’s a huge boost for Delhi Capitals because Indian players are gold in the IPL. Obviously, he has not played much cricket and I hope he gets back to rhythm very quickly. It’s been a while he is away from competitive cricket, almost 17-18 months. He has worked very hard to make a comeback. He is confident and wants to play for Delhi Capitals and India. I am extremely happy he is back and hope he gets through the season,” Ganguly told Revsportz.
The former BCCI President further stated that Pant is looking very confident about playing in the 2024 edition of the IPL, which is good news for both DC and Team India.
“I met him (Rishabh) in Bangalore recently for the inaugural game of WPL. He was there. He is getting ready and hopefully will play in IPL 2024. He looked very confident about playing in the IPL 2024 which begins from March 22. And that’s seriously good news for us in Delhi and India,” the former left-hand batter added.
Pant has represented DC since 2016 and scored 2,838 runs in 98 matches at an average of 34.61 and a strike rate of over 147, with a century and 15 fifties to his name.
The 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will start on March 22, with defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) set to clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in a South Indian derby at MA Chidambaram Stadium.
The schedule until April 7 has been announced as of now, with the remainder to be declared later because of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the dates for which are yet to be announced.
Delhi Capitals will be playing their home fixtures at Vizag on March 31 and April 3 against CSK and Kolkata Knight Riders, respectively. Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium will not be available to host the matches just days after hosting the Women’s Premier League final on March 17.
DC’s other fixtures till April 7 include a March 28 match against the Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur and against the Mumbai Indians in Mumbai on April 7.