IPL 2024: Rishabh Pant opens up on comeback experience in Mullanpur

Rishabh Pant made his comeback to competitive cricket after almost a year. The swashbuckling batter was out of action since he met with a life-threatening car accident in December 2022. On March 23, he was seen leading the Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2024. He looked in fine-tuning as he kept wickets and batted, reminiscent of old him. Though DC lost their opening fixture of IPL 2024 against Punjab Kings, Pant’s comeback was the talk of the town.

The southpaw coming into bat at number four, struck two boundaries and scored 18 runs before he was dismissed by Harshal Patel. He would have fancied a better start to his resurgence post adversities, but being able to do what he does best will take time. After the much-awaited comeback, he described his feeling of stepping onto the field again and admitted that he was nervous before going into bat in Mullanpur.

"Personally, I was pretty nervous, but you have to go through this when you enter the field. But this isn't the first time you're feeling nervous. Happy about [returning to the game] but at the same time, I think we had a par score but because we were one bowler short, because of Ishant's injury, but can't do much about it," said Pant on air after the game.

Also Read: IPL 2024: Google welcomes Rishabh Pant with a special post on his return to action

Pant highlights DC’s ordeal of being one bowler short against Punjab

Coming to the game between DC and PBKS, batting first the Delhi Capitals posted a decent total of 174 runs. Their struggle with the bat was evident as no batter crossed the 40-run mark. While defending the target they were dealt with a huge blow, as their key pacer Ishant Sharma sustained an injury. Subsequently, the inexperienced Sumit Kumar bowled the final over and could not defend six runs. Pant, shed light on the injury concerns and credited Abhishek Porel’s gritty 32 runs knock. 

"Ishant injury was clearly evident on the field, because we were anyway playing with one bowler short, because we lacked with the bat a little bit. But, end of the day, when Abishek [Porel] came in, he chipped in with a few runs, which were very crucial. But at the same time, we were a little short on the extra bowling and he [Ishant] got injured. I think that was the part where we lacked. Because I think the boys actually pulled it back in the end, but it's part and parcel of the game," he added.