'He's young and still learning, mistakes can happen' - Piyush Chawla backs Rishabh Pant to lead Delhi Capitals in IPL 2023

Delhi Capitals’ skipper Rishabh Pant has found support in India leg-spinner Piyush Chawla. Pant has been on the receiving end of some backlash after his underwhelming season in IPL 2022, with questions over his leadership skills.

The flamboyant batter’s questionable decisions throughout the season were magnified to great proportions when he made a crucial error in the do-or-die game against Mumbai Indians as he did not go upstairs after Mumbai’s Tim David was given not out by the on-field umpire. Later, the replays showed that there was a slight nick, and had Rishabh reviewed it, his side would have probably made it to the playoffs as David went on to smash a match-defining 34 off 11 balls.

However, Chawla has come out in support of the 24-year-old. “Pant is young and is still learning as a captain. Mistakes happen. Not only Rishabh Pant, but any captain can make mistakes. He is one for the future, and I am sure he will learn with time and experience. He is a street-smart cricketer who will only improve as he keeps leading,” Chawla said in a recent interview with ESPNcricinfo.

Rishabh Pant’s batting is unaffected by his captaincy responsibilities: Piyush Chawla

Although the Delhi skipper scored 340 runs in IPL 2022 at a strike rate of just over 150, he failed to score a single half-century this season, a first in his seven-year-long IPL career. Pant received flak for his short stays at the crease, but Chawla expressed his desire to see him lead the Delhi side next season as he believes that Pant’s batting is not getting affected by the captaincy.

“I don’t think captaincy impacts his batting in any way. If the ball is there to be hit, even if it is the first ball he is facing, he will go after it. I don’t think captaincy had anything to do with his batting performance in this IPL. I wouldn’t even say that his form was bad. He was batting well and playing those impressive cameos, but couldn’t convert those into big knocks. I would like to see him leading Delhi again next year,” the 2011 World Cup-winner explained.