IPL 2020: Injured Rishabh Pant kicks the football hard; leaves DC physio in disappointment

Delhi Capitals (DC) are having a dream run in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team is at the numero uno position in the points tally with six victories in eight fixtures. The squad looks solid with a perfect blend of batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders. However, coming in the middle of the tournament, the Delhi-based franchise received a massive blow when their in-form spinner Amit Mishra was ruled out of the tournament.

Following the suite, Ishant Sharma also packed his bags to arrive back in the country after suffering from an abdominal muscle tear. Now, adding to the misery, their hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant is likely to miss the competition for a minimum of 7 to 10 days as he has suffered a grade 1 hamstring strain.

Pant was diagnosed with this injury during the match against Rajasthan Royals and it looks pretty serious as of now. The Delhi management has conveyed the same to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). “DC had sent the scan reports to BCCI’s medical team as it is mandated by the BCCI for any centrally contracted Indian player. It shows that Pant has a Grade 1 tear,” an IPL source said as quoted by Times Now on conditions of anonymity.

Rishabh Pant’s hilarious moment with the physiotherapist

Though things are not going in the right direction for the 23-year-old, he is making sure to keep himself in high spirits and the same can be deduced from a Twitter video. In a viral video, Rishabh  Pant can be seen walking on the match field with the physiotherapist Patrick Farhart of the DC squad. However, the twist comes when despite being hurt, Pant hits the football hard leaving his physio shocked.

It was a hilarious incident as the wicketkeeper-batsman hit the ball with his leg in a flow and wasn’t expecting such a reaction from his physio. With Rishabh Pant not recovering from the injury completely, the DC physio must have been shocked after kicked the ball.

Here’s the video

Rishabh Pant’s absence for a few days can be a major headache for the team management and the skipper as it will massively hamper DC’s team balance. The absence of Pant from playing XI means that Australia’s young gun Alex Carey will have to keep the gloves. Thus, Shimron Hetmyer will also distance himself from the game and will have to make way for Ajinkya Rahane.

However, this can be harmful for the team as they can’t afford to lose two power-hitters at the back-end. Though Carey still remains favourite to don the big gloves, he has only hit six sixes in 30 T20 Internationals for Australia, which is roughly one six in every five games and is not significant for a finisher in the T20 game.