CHENNAI: When Punjab Kings' Harshal Patel dismissed David Warner in the eighth over, the Mullanpur Stadium was on its feet. Even as they were feeling the afternoon heat, the crowd at the venue was bringing down the non-existent roof. The cheer was not for the wicket, but for the next batter who walked in — Rishabh Pant.
The Delhi Capitals captain walked out to bat for the first time in a competitive match since suffering a life-threatening car accident in December 2022. That he is back and playing in itself is an achievement, but all eyes were on how he walks, moves, bats and keeps wickets on Saturday, and understandably so. Pant has been the maverick with the bat, not just for DC, but for Indian cricket in the past few years. Seeing him do well is something the cricketing fraternity unanimously wished for.
It did not take long to know that Pant was at home. His first shot was on-the-knee cut through point, a very unorthodox position, but typical of Pant. His innings would live only 13 balls, but he showed glimpses of the past. The one-handed slogs, the working around of spinners, standing tall and cutting close to the body, he showed it all in the 18 runs he scored.
While he will always get better with the bat as he plays more games, the other concern was how he moves as a keeper and the general vibe and constant chatter behind the wickets. Pant seemed fitter than ever, and did not seem like he was in any sort of trouble keeping whether it was against pacers or standing up to spinners. Defending the team's total of 174/9, DC were not having it easy.
During the second innings, Pant could be heard in the stump mic telling Kuldeep in his typical way, "Dalte re, Tu hi hai, Milegha (keep bowling, you will get the wicket). And shortly after Kuldeep got the wicket of Prabhsimran Singh. This is just one example. Even when DC was batting, Pant could be seen expressing his disappointment of getting out, missing an opportunity to make an impact for the team. That in itself shows how eager he is to get going and do something special.
PBKS might have chased down the total, securing a four-wicket win, but Pant has shown enough to believe that he is well and truly back. This is the beginning of something special in his career.
Brief scores: DC 174/9 in 20 ovs (Porel 32 n.o) lost to PBKS 177/6 in 19.2 ovs (Curran 63).
